North Sulawesi governor says dogs being bludgeoned and torched for their meat is ‘not cruel’

North Sulawesi governor says dogs being bludgeoned and torched for their meat is ‘not cruel’

Added on Friday, 26 January 2018
In response to the release of our investigations that exposed the abhorrent cruelty of North Sulawesi’s live animal markets, the Governor of the province – Olly Dondokambey – has responded with a statement.

“I don’t feel there’s [any cruelty]. The market is called ‘Extreme Market’ because they sell meat from extreme animals like snakes, dogs, bats, and rats, which are unconventional. But the way they are butchered is neither cruel nor careless”

The Governor is clearly trivializing the immense cruelty endured by tens of thousands of animals each week, with dogs routinely being blowtorched whilst still alive after being bludgeoned in full view of other animals who tremble as they wait their turn.

The DMFI Coalition’s position is resolute: “custom” and “habits” should ever be allowed to excuse or normalise animal abuse. The reality is that the live animal markets are places of extreme animal cruelty, promote the illegal sourcing and trading of animals, pose a serious risk to human health, and undermine Indonesia’s global reputation.

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In Bobby’s Honour

We found Bobby sitting in a wire cage in a busy dog meat market in North Sulawesi whilst we were conducting investigations in December 2017. He was surrounded by scenes from a horror movie, and the terror in his eyes was haunting. We knew we couldn’t leave him.

It breaks our heart that he left this world too soon, but he left having known love and with a name. And in his name, we will never give up until the dog and cat meat trades end throughout Indonesia.

Hero’s Story

The Dog Meat Free-Indonesia coalition spent many long and heartbreaking months investigating the inner-workings of the dog meat trade throughout Indonesia. As people who do what we do because we care so passionately about animals, doing investigations never gets any easier. It is soul-destroying and heart-breaking, but essential in documenting the reality of the trade so that we are best-positioned to fight it, and to ultimately realise our goal of ending the dog meat trade.

But we always save those we can…

On one particular day, we had the chance to save a dog who we named 'Hero'.

Change is coming in Indonesia and throughout Asia… Never before has the dog meat trade or the consumption of dog meat been questioned the way it is now. People are turning their backs on a trade and a practice that can no longer hide behind a defense of ‘culture’ or ‘tradition’.