A Caring Space: Thiện Trang - Nhất Minh Vegan Animal-person Shelter, Part 1 of 2

A loving shelter located in Tây Ninh Province, Âu Lạc (Vietnam), is run by Nguyễn Minh Tuấn (vegan) and Nguyễn Thị Thùy Trang (vegan). The dedicated couple lovingly tend to approximately 300 dog- and 70 cat-people, which involves working very long hours. The animal residents are also fed a vegan diet to keep them healthy. Mrs. Nguyễn tells us how the shelter first got started.

“I had a dream in which the Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva told me that I would have a lot of children. I replied, ‘I couldn’t afford to raise a lot of children.’ I still recall that dream more than others. And the dream came true. I have a whole bunch of pet-children, plenty of them.”

“Many of these animal-kids come from vulnerable and pathetic circumstances: being abandoned because their former owners moved to a new place and could not afford to raise their pets, or being saved from slaughterhouses by kind people or myself. Some of my animal-children were hit by vehicles, left on the road, and almost died. So, I saved them by taking them to the veterinarian clinic until they got better, and then I took them home.”

“A vegan diet has remarkably improved the health of our animal-children. Vegetables help improve digestive health and well-being. My animal-kids now look brighter. They are in good shape, not fat with limited mobility, but active, healthy, jump, and run very well.”

“I think I’m vegan, so my pet-children should be vegan too. Our animal-children will earn some merits later. I’m afraid that they will be reborn in animal forms again if they continue eating non-vegan food. I hope that eating a vegan diet will help them reincarnate as humans, not dog beings. That’s why I trained them to become vegan, and they are up to now.”

Mrs. Nguyễn further describes the utmost respect and compassion that she gives to these sentient beings as she appreciates their divine, spiritual nature. “I held them like I carried my child. When they passed away at the animal-people clinic, I took them home and turned Buddha’s chanting on for six to seven hours, and I buried them at midnight. If they recovered from sickness, I would take care of them.”