Humane Society International

Dear President Widodo, governors and mayors, 

Like millions of people around the world, I have been horrified to see evidence from the Dog Meat Free Indonesia coalition exposing the utterly brutal trades in dogs and cats in Indonesia for human consumption. Every month, tens of thousands of dogs and cats are stolen from the streets and even their homes to be killed for meat, in complete and open defiance of the national government’s declaration that dogs are not food and of existing laws that would serve to prohibit these cruel trades if properly socialized and enforced.   

Government officials themselves have described the trades as “torture for animals”, “barbaric” and damaging to Indonesia’s reputation. Perhaps nowhere is this more apparent than the live animal markets in North Sulawesi where dogs and cats are routinely bludgeoned, blowtorched, butchered and sold in public alongside other domesticated and wild animals. An astonishing 60% of emerging infectious diseases are transmitted from animals to people, including COVID-19, which experts believe originated at a market in China selling wild and domestic animals for human consumption. The devastating impacts of COVID-19 have been felt throughout the world, including in Indonesia. Despite this, the trafficking, slaughtering and sale of dogs and cats continues to operate business as usual. Distressing images of the trades have been widely publicized, causing shock and anger nationwide and globally.

In September 2018, the world applauded when the government issued a directive calling on leaders nationwide to end the trades in their jurisdictions. Last year, Indonesia’s most notorious live animal market, Tomohon “Extreme” Market, issued a ban on dog and cat meat trading and slaughtering, and the Special Area of the City of (DKI) Jakarta—the most populous metropolitan area in Indonesia, which includes the capital city—announced it has banned the dog and cat meat trades. Sadly, live animal markets and trading operations in many parts of Indonesia still exist, killing tens of thousands of dogs and cats every month. While the international community applauds the regencies and cities in Indonesia that have taken action, more needs to be done.   

In light of the potential risks the dog and cat meat trades pose to public health, the horrific and intolerable animal cruelty that reflects so poorly on Indonesia’s reputation, and standing in solidarity with the 93% of Indonesians who support a ban, I implore you to close these markets and put an end to the dog and cat meat trades.

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Urge Indonesia to end the dog and cat meat trades

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