"I've been all over the world and seen so many instances of animal abuse, but this, to me, was one of the saddest. I spent all the money I had on me at the time on water for the animals, knowing that they would be without water again the very next day, still languishing in filth and lonely agony. The animals at Cu Chi tunnels have done nothing wrong, but theyve been sentenced to a life in prison."
—PETA Investigator
After a concerned citizen alerted PETA to a squalid roadside menagerie housing primates, moon bears, and snakes at the southwest entrance to the Cu Chi tunnels outside Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, PETA traveled to Vietnam to investigate. When PETA arrived, none of the animals had food or water, and trash and feces littered every cage.
All the animals there have lived in very small cages—some completely alone and with no enrichment—for three to four years. Though the government is responsible for their care, they are in the charge of a local restaurant—an establishment with no credentials or resources to properly care for wild animals.
The animals get water only once a day—in the early morning. They suffer through the rest of each day under the hot Vietnamese sun with no water. On one hot summer day when PETA was there, the animals were dying of thirst. PETA representatives gave the animals bottled water from a nearby concession stand. One thirsty stumptailed macaque quickly gulped down four large bottles. The restaurant worker who is in charge of caring for the animals told PETA that the animals are not given water because they might make a mess with it and because giving them too much water might make them fat. He also told PETA that a veterinarian comes once a month, but he could not tell us when.
