Despite the large numbers of dogs they smuggle out of the country every year, only a handful of people run the Thai operation, claims Edwin Wiek, cofounder of the Animal Activist Alliance, a Thai-based charity pushing to stop the trade. "We know these people: we know where they live, we know their names, we even have photographs," says Wiek, whose alliance relies on full-time informants in Thailand and Laos. "Some of the photographs show their cars – their numberplates could be easily traced – but they get away with it because they pay a lot of money [in bribes]. And as long as they keep paying, there will be people in the system who accept it and turn a blind eye.