VietNamNet Bridge - Why would anyone be willing to pay millions of dong to claim ownership of a rooster? And one worth a mere VND115,000 (US$7) ?

Ho Thi Cam Van of Long An Province had her reasons.

Last December, Van searched for three days for her stray rooster before finally discovering him in a cage belonging to fellow villager Nguyen Thi Quan. She was able to identify him, because of the plumage that she had trimmed herself.

Recognising that the fowl was hers, Van asked for Quan’s permission to take the rooster to Tran Thi Tho, the woman who had sold the rooster to Quan for VND115,000 ($7).

Van said she wanted to demand an explanation from Tho. Quan agreed.

At the meeting, Tho told Van, who arrived with rooster in hand, that she had chosen it among a flock that she had been raising in her backyard.

Disbelieving the claim, Van defended her rights. A boisterous row erupted, with both women insisting indisputable ownership.

After returning home with the rooster, Van consulted her husband who arrived at a solution: to determine ownership, let the rooster roam at large to see which cage he returned to at sundown.

However, that solution never came to pass. Tho showed up the next morning at Van’s house, demanding that Van give the rooster back.

Tempers flared. The two women were so furious they began fighting over the rooster, breaking its wing and leg and tossing it back and forth until he died. Van later had him butchered.

Three months later, Tho filed a lawsuit against Van at the district tribunal, which ruled that Van had to pay damages to Tho, given that it was Van that slaughtered the rooster.

Unconvinced of the justness ruling, Van appealled to the provincial court, saying she would pursue the case to the last breath no matter how much she had to pay a lawyer.

"It’s not only a fight for justice, it’s a fight for honour," Van says.

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