‘Extreme’ Indonesian market ends dog, cat meat trade

AFP | Jakarta              

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

A notorious Indonesian animal market has ended the sale of dog and cat meat after years of activist pressure to stop the trade and its brutal methods of slaughter, according to campaigners.

Canine and feline meat were on the menu alongside bats, rats, snakes, and monkeys at the Tomohon Extreme Market on Sulawesi Island, known for its disturbing culinary spread, until a ban was imposed on Friday.

The previously uncompromising bazaar is the first such market in the country to finally back down and stop the trade of cat and dog meat, animal rights group Humane Society International (HSI) said in a statement Friday.

It called the ban a "historic agreement that will spare thousands of animals from being bludgeoned and blowtorched to death for human consumption."

Indonesia remains one of the few countries in the world that still permits the sale of dog and cat meat due to local traditions and culture. The market’s six remaining dog and cat meat traders signed an agreement to stop the sale, and the mayor of Tomohon City signed into law a ban on future trade at the market, the group said in a statement.