Warning: Distressing Content
Heartbreaking footage taken by investigators shows how dogs are left tied up in sacks and trapped in cages before being taken to the slaughterhouse.
The distressing scenes were caught on camera in the town of Solo, Indonesia, where an estimated 13,700 dogs are slaughtered each month to serve the city’s 82 dog meat vendors.
Investigators also found dogs being slaughtered in unhygienic conditions and dogs being killed in front of other dogs, which served to unnecessarily increase the animals’ stress and suffering.
Warning: Distressing Content:
The footage was captured by Dog Meat Free Indonesia (DMFI); a campaign led by Change For Animals Foundation, Animal Friends Jogja, Humane Society International, Jakarta Animal Aid Network and FOUR PAWS.
Organisers shared the footage with Ganjar Pranowo, the governor of Central Java province, in an attempt to encourage him to ban the trade of dog meat.
Thankfully, the evidence appears to have hit home and officials in Indonesia have now expressed desire to end the trade.
According to a press release from DMFI, after meeting with the organisation Pranowo commented:
We must encourage the Solo City government to make strict rules, the DPRD to make regulations that prohibit people from eating or selling dog meat.
Earlier this month, international welfare organisation FOUR PAWS announced the local government wants to pledge ‘zero tolerance’ of the trade. Though little action has yet been taken, campaigners are hoping the push for a ban will continue to gain momentum.
DMFI explains the footage not only reveals the brutal treatment of animals, but also provides evidence those in charge of the dog meat trade are flouting public health and safety regulations designed to protect citizens from deadly rabies transmission and the spread of diseases that can be transmitted from animals to people.
Karin Franken of the Jakarta Animal Aid Network commented on the campaign, saying:
We are optimistic that the governor of Central Java will take strong and urgent actions to ensure prohibition rules are passed to end the trade in, slaughter and consumption of dogs.
We know that only a minority of Indonesians consume dog meat, yet the trade threatens the health and safety of the entire nation, not to mention results in the immeasurable and unimaginable suffering of tens of thousands of dogs throughout Indonesia each month.
Franken continued:
It is a cruel and dangerous trade that must stop, and the DMFI stands ready to help provide practical and on-the-ground support to secure the dual aims of eliminating both the dog and cat meat trades and rabies.
No animal deserves to be treated so cruelly; sign the petition to end the dog meat trade here.
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.