Whenever faced with an outrageous story like this, I generally consult snopes.com. Here's what they had to say:
http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/vargas.asp
Americans can be very nearsighted when it comes to some practices of other countries, especially when they lean more towards being third world. Not everyone shares our views on animals, sadly. I'm not condoning these practices, just reiterating what has already been stated - different countries, different cultures.