DOGS ARE NOT FOOD

DOGS ARE NOT FOOD CAMPAIGN

Dogs are social creatures and companion animals. Dogs are not registered as ‘live stock for consumption’ and therefor slaughter houses for dogs do not follow government approved SOP’s concerning the slaughter process, hygiene standards and SOP of transporting.

Animal Friends Jogya (AFJ) and Jakarta Animal Aid Network (JAAN)* came up with the initiative to start this campaign for a number of reasons:
*a couple of other animal welfare groups also joined at the beginning of the campiaign, but after several months JAAN & AFJ decided to proceed without them

1. Over the past years, reports from caring people had come in daily. Most of the reports mentioned the following: Dogs being stolen by guys on motor bikes, People living near a LAPO (Dog Meat Restaurant) reported the noise of crying dogs and the discomfort they get from knowing what was happening, People also reporting the increase of LAPO’s and becoming more aware of how these animals are treated and slaughtered. Reports also came flooding about the cruel transportation of these dogs.

All these hundreds of reports that we have been receiving over the past years, have asked us to help put a stop to these cruel practices.

2. After thorough investigation by AFJ and JAAN which started in December 2013, we discovered that the problem is much bigger then we had imagined. The whole process which includes the way the dogs are stolen, transported ,kept, slaughtered and the non excisitent hygiene standards are shocking. Top of the line cruelty which you can see a glimpse of in our investigation video. So our campaign officially started in April 2014.

3. In a written report by WHO it was stated that the ongoing rabies outbreak in Bali was directly connected to the illegal transportation of dogs to Bali with the purpose of slaughtering. This also has spread into other areas in Indonesia causing a big problem with rabies now in areas other than Bali .
Other diseases that humans can get by either handling or eating dogs are: Rabies, Cholera, Trichinellosis. This has become a public health issue.

Other major risks are the spreading of other diseases considering these dogs are in horrible shape, travel under horrific circumstances and carry diseases such as parvo or distemper due to the poor state the dogs are in. Then of course the rabies problem that we are dealing with in Indonesia.

4. There are countless articles and much information available regarding the health risks of consuming dog meat . Although the dog meat trade in Indonesia is not on the same scale as Korea for example, we should not under estimate the number of dogs that are killed weekly for consumption. In Jogyakarta alone 360 dogs are estimated to be killed weekly.

We then have to take in consideration that Yogjakarta is not the main dog meat area so we estimate that in Manado and Sumatra, (where dog meat is seen as a delicacy) we should multiply this number with atleast 5 (1800 weekly in 1 area where dog meat is a delicacy so that makes a total of 3600) .

Then a big city as Jakarta obviously also has a higher number then Yogjakarta and is at least double the amount in Jogya which means app. 720 dogs per week. So if added up we are talking about 4680 dogs weekly for consumption! Lets not forget the scary fact that these are estimations of 4 areas in Indonesia only!
In Solo the dog meat is also very popular and the amount of restaurants selling dog meat is a lot higher then in Jogya. JAAN and AFJ have investigated in Solo too, but unfortunatley not enough to make an estimation. But we do know that the amount of dogs slaughtered is a lot higher then in Jogya.

5. This type of cruelty is not justified by any religion. AFJ and JAAN have organized meetings and workshops with various religious public figures explaining why these cruel practices are unacceptable.

6. This campaign is NOT about race or ethnic background. Although we all know in which areas eating dogmeat is common, many people with a variety of religions and ethnic backgrounds eat dogs because they think it has certain healing purposes that has never been proven scientificly.

We do not discuss tradition, culture, ethnic background etc. since these are not topics of our campaign. We will not be distracted by other parties who are not happy about our campaign and who try to twist it into something it is not.

OUR GOAL
It is our goal to raise awareness about this matter and to show people the cruelty involved and the public health issues it carries along. We want the slaughtering of dogs to become illegal for the reasons above.Our goal is also to make the Indonesian government understand that the dog meat trade brings a big contribution to the spreading of rabies throughout Indonesia and it is becoming a real public threat.