Photo by HSI
The Government of the state of Nagaland in India has just announced a statewide ban on the brutal dog meat trade. The decision was announced today by the cabinet and will end the import, trade, and sale of live dogs and dog meat.
Humane Society International/India and People For Animals have campaigned for years to end India’s dog meat trade, and welcome this decision as a major turning point in ending this horrific underground market. HSI/India estimates that about 30,000 dogs per year are smuggled into Nagaland where they are sold in live markets and beaten to death with wooden clubs.
HSI/India’s campaign to end the dog meat trade was launched in 2016 with an investigation revealing shocking video footage of dog meat pits in Nagaland. Dogs were seen being clubbed multiple times and suffering protracted and painful deaths in front of each other.
“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 India’s cruel hidden dog meat trade,” said Alokparna Sengupta, HSI/India’s Managing Director in a statement. “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. 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.”
Dog meat consumption is prohibited in India through the Food Safety and Standards Regulations, 2011. However, these regulations are poorly enforced, and in the northeastern states of Nagaland, Mizoram, Tripura, and Arunachal Pradesh thousands of dogs each year are illegally captured from the streets or stolen from homes, and cruelly transported from neighboring states in gunny bags to be brutally killed for human consumption.
Earlier this week, Indian Member of Parliament Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi made an urgent public appeal to urge the Government of Nagaland to stop the trade and consumption of dog meat after receiving new photographs of the trade from a Nagaland-based animal protection organization. The appeal led to more than 125,000 people writing to the Nagaland Government.
“We warmly thank Smt. Maneka Gandhi for her leadership and the vital impetus she has provided in achieving this decision from the Government of Nagaland so quickly after the latest evidence emerged,” continued HSI/India’s Sengupta. “We also congratulate the Government of Nagaland and offer our support so that this decision can be robustly implemented. The Government of Nagaland has shown great leadership, and we urge the neighboring states such as Mizoram, Tripura, and Arunachal Pradesh to follow by implementing a dog meat trade ban in their respective territories as well.”
The Government of Nagaland is considering how to allot land to accommodate dogs rescued from the trade, and to promote the adoption of these dogs. HSI/India, which has rescued more than 150 dogs from the dog meat trade, will work with People For Animals and the state government to support adoption and implementation of practical mechanisms needed to enforce the new order and end the dog meat trade.
HSI/India’s campaign is part of HSI’s broader campaign to end the dog meat trade across Asia in countries including South Korea, China, Indonesia, and Vietnam.
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