Siem Reap
(Cambodia) (AFP) - Cambodian dog meat traders drown, strangle and stab
thousands of canines a day in a shadowy but sprawling business that traumatises
workers and exposes them to deadly health risks like rabies.
Khieu Chan
bursts into tears when describing a job that haunts him as he goes to sleep: he
kills up to six dogs a day, slicing their throats.
"Please
forgive me. "If I don't kill you, I can't feed my family," the
41-year-old tells the 10 dogs awaiting their fate in a cage.
A cheap
source of protein, dog meat is still eatem in several Asian countries from
China and South Korea to Vietnam and non-Muslim communities in Indonesia.
Animal
welfare activists say consumption has declined as the region's middle class has
grown -- more people own pets, and there's greater stigma associated with
eating dog.
But the
brutal trade has flown under the radar in Cambodia where new research shows a
thriving business involving roving dog catchers, unlicensed slaughterhouses and
many restaurants in cities selling so-called "special meat".
An
estimated two to three million dogs are slaughtered annually in Cambodia,
according to the NGO Four Paws, which identified more than 100 dog meats
restaurants in the capital Phnom Penh and about 20 in the temple town of Siem
Reap.
"It
has this massive trade," says Katherine Polak, a Thailand-based
veterinarian who works with the NGO, which recently presented findings to the
government.
Officials
were "shocked" by the magnitude, she claims.
Rabies
crisis
Motorbike
riders criss-cross northern Cambodia trading pots, pans and cookware for
unwanted dogs, loading them into a heavy rectangular cage on the back seat and
making deliveries to middlemen.
Live
specimens fetch $2 to $3 per kilo, incentivising suppliers to collect as many
as possible.
Researchers
say the dog meat trade is a public health crisis because it carries potentially
infected animals all over the country.
Cambodia
has one of the highest incidence rates of rabies in the world and most cases
are from dog bites.
The trade
also undermines local canine immunisation efforts by removing and killing
vaccinated dogs.
Unsanitary
slaughterhouses have no safety regulations as they aren't overseen by the
government, and workers wear no protective gear.
"I got
bitten by a dog but I did not get vaccinated because when I returned it was
late at night," Pring That told AFP in a village in Siem Reap as he cooked
dog meat stew with fermented fish paste.
Instead,
the 33-year-old cleaned the wound with soap and lemon.
Industrial-scale
slaughterhouses in developing countries put some distance between workers and
animals.
But the
Cambodian dog trade is hands on.
After
receiving delivery, shirtless men poke dogs with sticks into holding cages.
They are
then hung, strangled with rope, clubbed over the head or drowned in a pit
filled with fetid water.
Just after
sunrise in a village in Siem Reap, one worker pulled a dog out of a cage and
hung it on the branch of a tree near drying laundry.
After
gasping for breath for several minutes, it stopped moving.
It was then
placed in boiling water to remove fur and chopped into parts.
"On a
good day, I kill 10 dogs or 12 dogs," says former soldier Hun Hoy.
"I
also feel pity for them, but I have to strangle them," the 59-year-old
adds.
'Hear
their cries'
Suppliers
can earn from $750 to $1,000 in a country where wages in garment factories are
under $200.
Productivity
is crucial.
"It's
faster to hit them," explains Dara, 30, a collector, trader and butcher.
"I
know it's a sin," he adds.
Drowning is
the preferred method of slaughter a few hours away in Kampong Cham and Kandal
provinces.
"By
putting them in the cage and drowning them in a pit, we don't have to hear
their cries," said one woman.
Meat and
parts are sold onto restaurants, where they are a popular with day labourers as
a barbecued snack or a $1.25 soup.
The
psychological trauma to bring cheap meat to the table is immense and those who
find a better job take it.
Next to his
dog cage in Takeo, Khieu Chan spoke about meeting Four Paws during their
investigation of the trade.
In an
unconventional twist, they gave him land for farming if he would close his
restaurant.
One recent
afternoon he helped the NGO gingerly take the sickly dogs out of the cage
placed under a tree.
But before
they were removed and sent to Phnom Penh for treatment, he knelt by the bars to
say goodbye.
He says:
"Now you have freedom. You are spared from death."
 |
An animal
rights collective, known as Dog Meat Free Indonesia Coalition,
together
with world-renowned celebrities launched a global campaign to stop
the trade
in dog meat on Thursday (02/11) at Hotel Gran Mahakam in South
Jakarta, in
light of recent disturbing findings of animal cruelty in the Southeast
Asian
country. (Photo courtesy of Dog Meat Free Indonesia Coalition)
|
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