Every day in Cambodia, Indonesia, and Vietnam, pet dogs and cats are stolen from loving families and taken to slaughterhouses and markets to be brutally killed and sold as meat.
While exact numbers are difficult to determine due to the illegality of the trade, we estimate that over 10 million pets are killed for their meat every year across Southeast Asia.
The trade regularly begins with the theft of dogs, either strays snatched from the street or beloved family pets stolen in plain sight.
Terrified and hurt, they are then often transported to ‘traditional markets’ and held in horrific conditions, often bound by limbs and muzzles, crammed into cages, watching their travel mates meet a cruel fate.
The suffering comes to a violent end when they are slaughtered. Most dogs are either beaten, drowned, hanged, boiled, or torched alive.
In North Sulawesi, Indonesia, there are an estimated 200 ‘traditional markets’ that maintain levels of on-site brutality to animals that are in contravention to Indonesian and global laws pertaining to animal welfare. One such market, Tomohon, slaughters approximately 40-60 dogs and 50 cats each week, with numbers rising to around 200 dogs and 150 cats during festive seasons.
The meat is then sold widely across many restaurants in Southeast Asia, despite a growing opposition to it in the local communities.
In Cambodia, a plate of dog meat typically costs around 5000 riels (which is around £1) and goes by the moniker of ‘special meat’. Additionally, many still attach perceived medicinal benefits to the consumption of the meat.
Sadly, black-coloured pets are frequently targeted for their perceived ‘special medicinal’ properties.
FOUR PAWS have been working tirelessly to end the dog and cat meat trade sustainably in Southeast Asia by 2030 by not only trying to decrease the demand for meat but also by advocating for the introduction of appropriate legislation and supporting enforcement to end the trade.
This work is only made possible due to the network of local partners on the ground in Indonesia, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Through lending support to communities, pet owners, and governments to support their efforts, we have been able to make great strides in creating a kinder future for dogs and cats in Southeast Asia.
These great strides are far-reaching. In fact;
Since 2020, we have shut down four slaughterhouses (three in Cambodia and one in Vietnam), with a slaughterhouse-bound minivan carrying 61 dogs also being intercepted.
We rescued the animals who were discovered on-site, and many have already been matched with loving families in Cambodia, Vietnam and even the US.
Siem Reap became the first province in Cambodia to ban the trade thanks to our help. With this, we supported the first government-led interceptions of dogs being taken to slaughter.
In December 2021, Hoi An became the first city in Vietnam to ban the trade, with Semarang in Indonesia following closely behind.
This meant Semarang became the first capital city of the Central Java Province and the fifth region in Indonesia to ban the dog and cat meat trade entirely.
On 17th Jan 2022, the city of Malang (East Java) followed suit and pledged to go dog meat-free. This was all thanks to the DMFI (Dog Meat Free Indonesia) coalition we are a part of.
Perhaps most importantly, local support is swiftly growing for an end to the trade. Since its launch on 16th December 2021, over 322,000 Vietnamese people have signed a petition calling on their Deputy Prime Minister to ban the dog and cat meat trade.
Most recently, we celebrated the sentencing of 12 months jail time for a dog slaughterhouse owner who was trading in stolen dogs for slaughter. This is the third conviction of a dog meat trafficker since the national government’s declaration in 2018 that ‘dogs are not food’.
Emily Wilson, Head of Campaigns at FOUR PAWS UK said:
“The dog and cat meat trade is barbaric, and the cruelty and pain these animals (many, beloved pets) endure is unimaginable.
74% of the British public believe the dog and cat meat trade should be illegal in Southeast Asia, and with the help of supporter donations from people who share this view, along with our partner organisations on the ground, we’ve been able to rescue and rehome many animals from a cruel fate.
Additionally, the dog and cat meat trade also poses serious human health risks. With 70% of the British public unaware of the pandemic risk that the dog and cat meat trade brings, we want to reveal the dangerous truth behind this cruel practice.
Encouraging the spread of rabies and other deadly illnesses, the brutal and unhygienic slaughter and butchery of dogs and consumption of meat from potentially rabies-positive animals puts humans at grave risk.”
Shockingly, dog meat consumption has been linked to outbreaks of trichinosis, cholera, and rabies in humans. In ending this cruelty and improving the relationship between animals and humans through education and support, we can ensure not only animal wellbeing but a healthy future for humankind.
Learn more about the trade and how FOUR PAWS hopes to end it for good by visiting https://www.four-paws.org.uk/
If you’d like to support the work that FOUR PAWS undertakes against this trade, please visit https://www.four-paws.org.uk/get-involved/take-action to end the dog and cat meat trade in Southeast Asia today.
