GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES - INDIVIDUAL RESEARCH REPORT

Should Countries Ban Dog Meat Trade?

By: Jashan
Gr. 8B

SEKOLAH BOGOR RAYA

2020

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 Should Countries Ban Dog Meat Trade?
By Jashan/8B

1.1 Introduction

In Asia, more than millions of dogs are slaughtered just for consumption. These dogs are

kept in appalling and cruel conditions so they can be slaughtered for meat. Dog meat traders

steal and snatch dogs from the streets, pet dogs from people’s backyards, and they are fit into

traders’ trucks tightly where they have barely enough space to breathe and then are beaten to

death just for their meat. Driven away from their families, sick, tired, hungry, fearful, and

injured. The question that is raised is should countries even consider banning these?

(Source: http://hlaoo1980.blogspot.com/2013/07/burmese-dogs-for-dog-meat-restaurants.html)

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1.2 Issue

A. Analysis of Causes and Consequences

The dog meat trade is a huge issue around the world. So first, we should get to

the root of it. One very well-known cause of dog meat trade around the world is blind trust and

tradition. People eat dog meat because some believe that it is considered as a lucky symbol.

There is a festival called “Yulin Festival”, in which people consume dog and cat meat, lychees,

and drink liquor. This festival is celebrated in the summers because the people of Yulin believe

that eating dog meat in the summers is a symbol of good luck. They also believe that eating dog

meat can ward off diseases. Chinese people have made it a tradition to consume dog meat and

they wouldn’t want to quit their tradition, so they keep consuming dog meat. There lies the

consequence, that it will instead give the consumer diseases such as rabies, bacterial infections

like anthrax, brucellosis, hepatitis, and leptospirosis. This happens because it is obvious that

stray dogs are not bathed, or groomed like pet dogs, and they search for food in trash bags, and

those same dogs are slaughtered at slaughterhouses to be sold for their meat. They are already

infected with bacteria, and it gets passed on to the consumer. It is also proven that dog meat

increases vitality is a myth.

B. Perspectives

Globally, this has become one of the biggest animal welfare issues and is

dragging the attention of many international activists as they are trying to stop this issue,

according to soidog.org. The dog meat trade is mostly in Asia and Africa, so it isn’t a problem in

most of the other continents so other than Asia and Africa, so people do not really know about

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this issue. As for the Asians, Africans and foreigners living in Asia and Africa, they also think that

dog meat trade is something that should be shut down. Since there are many tribes in Africa,

they believe that eating dog meat is normal because they are not educated on what to do yet

and they would consume it without even thinking about it. Many countries in Africa also

consider killing dogs for consumption as legal and also in Asia. Indonesia’s perspective on this

topic is basically that in some regions of this country, like North Sulawesi, Solo, and North

Sumatra, it is considered okay to consume such meat according to culture. Although some

cultures do so, our president, Mr. Joko Widodo has decided to ban such meat as he believes

that it is responsible for causing rabies, and he is right. Even the governor of Central Java, Ganjar

Pranowo, has ordered to ban dog meat all over Central Java because he cited a 2012 law which

states that foods are either farmed or grown on plants, and dog meat is none of them. My

personal perspective on dog meat trade is that it is very immoral. To maintain our health, there

are many natural and vegetarian ways. We shouldn’t be so inhumane and barbaric to innocent

animals. We are in the modern era and it is illogical if we rely on such a source in such an era. It

is considered that people in the old times were tribals, and they weren’t educated, however, in

this era, everyone is at least educated on what to eat and what not to, so being tribals and

consuming dog meat with such an excuse is not acceptable. In Indonesia, they have made it a

business in the name of culture. Since it has been consumed by their ancestors, educated

people also open up businesses selling dog meat. Moving on, we know that dog meat is the

carrier of many infections as I’ve mentioned before, so I think that dog meat trade is something

the government of countries should consider.

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 C. Course of Action

Lots of action has been taken to stop the dog meat trade. One example is that

the governor of central Java has ordered to end the monthly slaughter of 13,000 dogs for food.

He has ordered it to be banned through the whole province, and he will save about 13,700 dogs

monthly from being slaughtered for food. Mr. Ganjar Pranowo had a meeting with DMFI and

confirmed this with them. 4 years before that, there was a rally conducted by Animal Friend

Jogja (AFJ), Jakarta Animal Aid Network (JAAN), Jogja Domestic Cat Lovers (JDCL) and other

NGOs in Yogyakarta. A traditional village in Bali also has banned dog meat in just the village. In

that village, the villagers believe that dogs are a huge part of Bali and they are a truly beautiful

creation of God, which is why they banned dog meat in that village.

(Source: https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/04/06/govt-urged-stop-dog-meat-trade-ri.html)

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1.3 Evaluation of Sources of Information

From all my resources, there are mostly none that may have or do contain biases as they

are not concerning any race, culture, or any other categories, but according to the perspectives

I’ve written, some people may consider it biased although I do not think it is biased because it is

a fact, not a theory or a biased opinion.

(Source: http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20160419-indonesias-best-and-goriest-cuisine)

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1.4 Conclusion

From my research, I have learned much about the dark world of the dog meat trade, and

I think that from my research, a conclusion can be drawn. As animalasia.org has stated their 5

reasons why the dog meat trade must end and I think those reasons are very distinctive. Those

reasons are that dogs aren’t farmed (except for some regions where dogs are farmed) and they

are instead stolen, dogs are usually poisoned, which can be passed onto humans. They have

also mentioned that there are many bacteria and viruses in them. Now our governor and

president have also mentioned the same things, so we should consider their words. Personally, I

think that the reasons dog meat trade should end outweigh the reasons dog meat trade should

go on. An online poll in China has also revealed that 69% of the population thinks that the dog

meat trade should end, even though China is the main consumer of dog meat. So my conclusion

is that we are advancing into a modern era, and to adapt to it, we should change ourselves too,

and cultures should let go of their customs that involve harming other living things as that is

what fuels animal welfare problems, so it is better if countries ban dog meat trade.

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1.5 Reflection

My personal perspective hasn’t changed much as I am familiar with this issue since

2018, so some parts of my report were based on my own knowledge. The research has changed

a part of my perspective on this issue as I thought that this was being done by the people of the

modern era but my research has proven that the modern era has learned to be affectionate to

animals and they are the ones bringing change to animal welfare issues.

(Source: https://www.npr.org/2012/03/29/149617086/headed-for-the-butcher-chinese-dogs-are-rescued)

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1.6 Bibliography

- “5 Reasons the Dog Meat Trade Must End.” Animalasia.org, 25 Aug. 2017,

www.animalsasia.org/us/media/news/news-archive/5-reasons-the-dog-meat-trade-mus

t-end.html. Accessed 13 Jan 2020

- Ahluwalia, Ravneet. “The Shocking Truth behind the Yulin Dog Meat Festival.” The

Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 21 June 2018,

www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/yulin-dog-meat-festival-explainer-what

-is-it-when-start-banned-controversy-a8410426.html. Accessed 30 Jan 2020

- “Central Java Governor Orders End to Monthly Slaughter of 13,000 Dogs for Food.” The

Jakarta Post, 4 Dec. 2019, 2:54 p.m.,

www.thejakartapost.com/news/2019/12/04/central-java-governor-orders-end-to-month

ly-slaughter-of-13000-dogs-for-food.html. Accessed 30 Jan 2020

- “Dog Meat Trade.” Humane Society International, www.hsi.org/issues/dog-meat-trade/.

Accessed 13th Jan 2020

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 - “Ending the Asian Dog Meat Trade.” Soi Dog Foundation, 1 Jan. 2020,

www.soidog.org/content/ending-dog-meat-trade. Accessed 1 Feb 2020

- Farr, Sara. “Attention People Who Eat Dog Meat! Here Are 3 Major Health Concerns You

Should Know About.” One Green Planet, One Green Planet, 30 June 2015,

www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/major-human-health-concerns-associated-

with-the-dog-meat-trade/. Accessed 29 Jan 2020

- “Indonesia’s Dog Meat Trade.” Dogmeatfreeindonesia.org,

www.dogmeatfreeindonesia.org/images/PDF/DMFI_Media_Campaign_Briefin_CCg.pdf.

Accessed 29 Jan 2020

- Mardiastuti, Aditya. “Pertama Kali! Desa Adat Di Bali Bikin Aturan Larang Makan Anjing.”

Detiknews, 5 Oct. 2018,

news.detik.com/berita/d-4244455/pertama-kali-desa-adat-di-bali-bikin-aturan-larang-m

akan-anjing. Accessed 1 Feb 2020

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 - Muryanto, Bambang. “Govt Urged to Stop Dog Meat Trade in RI.” The Jakarta Post, 6 Apr.

2015, 11:44 a.m.,

www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/04/06/govt-urged-stop-dog-meat-trade-ri.html.

Accessed 30 Jan 2020

- Sutcliffe, Theodora. “Travel - Indonesia's Best – and Goriest – Cuisine.” BBC, BBC, 20 Apr.

2016, www.bbc.com/travel/story/20160419-indonesias-best-and-goriest-cuisine.

Accessed 2 Feb 2020

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