Dog Meat Trade Banned In Indonesia’s Capital City of Jakarta
South-East Asia’s biggest city has outlawed the dog and cat meat trade in what campaigners are calling a “watershed” moment.
Indonesia’s capital city of Jakarta has introduced a ban on the dog and cat meat trade.
The Food Security, Marine and Agriculture Department confirmed the news, which makes Jakarta the 21st jurisdiction in Indonesia to ban the trade.
As the biggest city in South-East Asia and with a population of over 30 million people, the move marks a significant step towards outlawing the dog and cat meat trade in the region.
Campaigners from the Dog Meat Free Indonesia (DMFI) coalition welcomed the news, calling it a “historic and watershed moment”. The coalition has stated that the trade is a source of severe animal cruelty and also poses a risk to human health by helping to spread zoonotic diseases such as rabies.
Credit: Jean Chung / HSI
Investigations into the trade found that an estimated 9,520 dogs per month are killed for their meat in Jakarta alone. Most of these dogs are reported to be stolen pets or strays, where they have been snatched from the streets and trafficked long distances to supply demand hotspots.
Public support for the trade is low, with an estimated 4.5 percent of Indonesia’s 270 million people estimated to have ever consumed dog meat. A nationwide opinion poll, conducted by Nielsen in 2021 and commissioned by DMFI, revealed 93% of all Indonesians support a national ban.
The Dog Meat Trade
An estimated 30 million dogs are killed for human consumption every year across Asia, according to Humane Society International. This includes around 10-20 million dogs that are slaughtered in China, 2 million in South Korea, 1 million in Indonesia, and around 5 million in Vietnam.
Nara Kim of HSI Korea, comforts a dog during a dog meat farm rescue in South Korea. Credit: Jean Chung / HSI
However, support for the trade is on the decline, and there is a growing animal protection movement across Asia that opposes the consumption of dog and cat meat.
This trend has been reflected in the growing number of government bans on the practise in recent years. In 2020, Shenzhen became the first city in China to ban the consumption of dog and cat meat, and the Indian state of Nagaland, infamous for its ‘hidden’ dog meat trade, also recently announced a complete ban along with heightened legal enforcement.
Take action against the dog meat trade now by signing Species Unite’s petition to ban dog meat in Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi.
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