It’s sickening to think there are still people who eat dogs, but sadly it’s still a practice in some parts of the world.
However, times are finally changing. People have long decried the dog meat trade as barbaric, as pet and stray dogs have been stolen, kept in cramped cages and cooked as dinner. And the COVID-19 pandemic has shed a harsh light on many of these “wet markets.”
Now, one Indian state is finally putting an end to the practice.
The government of Nagaland, India has announced they will be ending the import, sale and trade of live dogs and dog meat, following a years-long campaign by Humane Society International.
“The suffering of dogs in Nagaland has long cast a dark shadow over India, and so this news marks a major turning point in ending the cruelty of India’s hidden dog meat trade,” HSI/India’s managing director Alokparna Sengupta said.
India passed legislation in 2011 banning the consumption of dog meat, however, this law was poorly enforced, and the dark industry continued.
The Humane Society launched a campaign to pressure the government into stricter laws, as well as their own shocking investigation into the trade.
They found that an estimated 30,000 dogs per year become victims to Nagaland’s dog meat industry, thousands of whom were illegally taken from their owners. The dogs were then kept and killed in barbaric ways.
“Our own investigation in Nagaland showed terrified dogs being subjected to horrific deaths in some of the worst inhumanity to animals HSI/India has ever witnessed,” Sengupta said.
And while the organization rescued 150 dogs, the damage was already done: “The dogs we have rescued from this trade over the years have had to learn to trust humans again after the cruel treatment they endured.”
This law is great news for the thousands of would-be victims of this cruel industry. And better yet, the government has pledged to help the dogs rescued from these markets, by allocating land and promoting their adoptions.
But the fight is far from over, as the Humane Society says this was just part of a larger goal of ending the dog meat trade throughout Asia.
What great news! Hopefully more cities and countries follow soon with their own legislation, saving countless lives.
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