I talked to Thao last night and asked her about the whole puppy eating issue.  It was actually pretty funny.  She confirmed that her family does not eat dogs, and said that when I asked her the other day whether we were going to eat that puppy for lunch and she said “Chua” (“Not yet”), she thought that I had asked her whether the puppy had eaten lunch yet that day.

Also, her cool aunt’s name is Tử, not Thung as I thought before.

Also, there were ten (!) people in the Daewoo on the way to lunch, not a measley 9.

So anyway, I feel much better about that little puppy’s fate now.