Global Courant
Dr. Karanvir Kukreja, Southeast Asia campaigner for Four Paws, a global animal welfare group, said the Tomohon ban couldn’t come soon enough.
“DMFI’s work over the past five years has relentlessly exposed that Tomohon Extreme Market was one of the worst animal welfare cases we’ve seen when it comes to the dog and cat meat trade,” said Dr. Kukreja in a statement. DMFI, or Dog Meat Free Indonesia, is a coalition of Indonesian and international groups.
Four Paws has collected two million signatures to end the dog and cat meat trade across Southeast Asia.
“What we would like to see now is a national ban after years of exposing severe and endless animal cruelty,” he said.
Earlier this year, Jakarta completely banned the sale of dog meat. Indonesia is one of many countries in Asia where some people still consume dog and cat meat.
An estimated 30 million dogs and cats, including stolen pets, are killed each year in Asia for the meat trade, including an estimated 10 million dogs in Southeast Asia alone, Four Paws said.
Dog meat a bestseller
Animal dealers in Tomohon were not happy with the ban.
“What can we do? It is already a government rule, so we have to follow it,” Mr. Melki Pongo, one of the traders, told BenarNews.
He said he had been supplying dogs and cats to markets in North Sulawesi for nearly 30 years without any problems.
But since videos of dogs and cats being gruesomely killed in the Tomohon Market went viral online, there have been many calls to stop selling dogs and cats, he said.
Mr. Pongo referred to videos released in 2018 by campaigners against animal cruelty, which exposed the cruel practices of the Tomohon market and sparked global outrage, including from global personalities.
He said 90 percent of the dogs and cats he sold came from neighboring provinces in Sulawesi and Kalimantan, which are predominantly Muslim, with the exception of North Sulawesi, which is predominantly Christian. Muslims are forbidden to consume dog and cat meat.
Mr. Pongo said he bought an animal for Rp 50,000 to Rp 100,000 (about S$4.40 to $8.80) and sold it for about Rp 700,000 in North Sulawesi.
Now he said he would focus on selling pigs.
“I will stop selling dogs altogether. I pray that God will bless me with more happiness,” he said.
Another trader, Mr. Junly Hesda Kapo, said that dog meat was a bestseller in the Tomohon market.
“Usually suppliers would put 150 animals on the market and they would sell out within hours,” he said.
Mr. Kapo, who also eats dog meat, said he and his family had no problem with it.
“The meat is delicious, just like free-range chicken, especially when cooked like rica-rica,” he said, referring to a spicy dish with chili, shallots, garlic and other spices.
Mr Kapo added that all traders would follow government rules.
“Of course, consumption can also fall if there are no more sales of dogs and cats,” he said. ASIA NEWS NETWORK/THE JAKARTA POST
