Unedited copy relative to Asian omnivores Prepared by Kim Bartlett,  Publisher of ANIMAL PEOPLE Newspaper <ANPEOPLE@whidbey.com>

Dogs and cats are eaten in large numbers in certain regions of China and in both South and North Korea.   Cat-meat restaurants flourish in some parts of Indonesia, as in the province of Guangdong in China.  Dog-eating is also prevalent in parts of Myanmar (Burma), Indonesia,   Vietnam,  Laos,  the Philippines,  the Asian portions of the former Soviet Union,  the northeastern states of India and a portion of Thailand.   There are reports of isolated instances of dog and cat eating in Japan,   Malaysia,  and Singapore,  but almost exclusively by either members of an ethnic Chinese or Korean minorities. 

  ANIMAL PEOPLE estimates that 13-16 million dogs and 4 million cats are butchered each year for human consumption in Asia,  as of 2003.

BANGLADESH:  No evidence of dog or cat eating

From:  Pradeep Kumar Nath, Visakha SPCA, India <vspcanath@satyam.net.in>

        My family came from Bangladesh to India.  I have not heard of Bangladeshis eating dogs or cats.

 CAMBODIA:   dogs are eaten but no estimates are available

From:  Dr. S. Chinny Krishna, Blue Cross of India <drkrishna@aspick.com>

        When we were in Cambodia last year, we specifically enquired of many people about dog-eating and were told by almost all of them that dogs are eaten by Cambodians, including the Cham (who are Muslims).  There are a lot of Thai and Vietnamese visitors who also eat dog meat.   Nobody mentioned cats.

          Cambodians are mainly Buddhist. Chams were almost exterminated by Pol Pot, but they form about 5% of the population from what we were told.  Why I mentioned the Cham is because dogs are supposed to be "haram" or unclean in Islam,  but obviously they are considered clean enough to be eaten in Cambodia.

          I have no idea on number of dogs eaten but,  obviously,  it would run into the thousands.

From:  Merritt Clifton, ANIMAL PEOPLE editor <ANMLPEPL@whidbey.com

        The Khmer Rouge tried hard to stamp out Buddhism by killing all the monks.  They also tried to kill all the dogs,  but protected wildlife.

        The Islamic Cham are ethnic Malaysians,  who somehow became established east of Phnom Penh,  toward the southern Vietnamese border (not close to either Malaysia or Hanoi).    Everything recent I found indicates that the Cham are probably no more than 1% of the population,   since the Khmer are 94%,  ethnic Chinese are 4%,  and ethnic Vietnamese are 1% (according to Dorling-Kindersley).

        Buddhism was the state religion for 2,500 years before the Khmer Rouge.  Christianity also historically had very little presence.  Missionaries passed through,  but found little enduring success.  What Christian presence endured was French Catholic,  as in Vietnam.  Historically the Cambodians ate very little meat,   except for fish,  but this may have changed.

        Cats,  as in Thailand and Burma,  had a very high status, and were not eaten,  but this may have changed with the destruction of virtually the entire educated portion of the population.

CHINA,   Peoples Republic of:    estimated 6-8 million dogs eaten annually, with 3.65 million cats consumed in Guangdong.  In addition to cat eating,  dog eating is also very popular in Guangdong, along with the neighboring provinces of Yunnan as well as Guangxi,    and also the three extreme northeast provinces on the Korean border -- Heilongjiang,  Jilin, and Liaoning    -- with the farming of dogs for meat most prevalent in the eastern provinces of  Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu, Shandong, and Hebei.

From: South China Morning Post article,  12/4/02

        An employee of a cat stall said some people now earned a living by catching stray cats on the streets and selling them for five yuan (HK$4.70) each....

From: Aster Li Zhang, IFAW China <azhang@ifaw.org>

        I don't think an increase consumption of dogs and cats will happen [if consumption of wildlife decreases]. For only Guangdong eat both dog and cat, people eat dogs in Yunnan, Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liao (three north east provinces near Korea) and several small consumer population in Beijing and Shanghai.

From: Paul Littlefair,  RSPCA <plittlefair@rspca.org.uk>

        Dog meat is eaten in certain areas - Guangdong, Guangxi and the Northeast in particular - and other local hotspots (eg the town of Peixian in Jiangsu Province) with a history of eating it. There was a surge in the numbers of dogs farmed for food in the late nineties (St

Bernards imported for cross-breeding) but the anticipated boom was muted. Nevertheless, if your figure for cats in Guangdong is accurate, it's fair to assume that there may be 6-8 million dogs eaten per year in China. This is conjecture - there is no official method of counting

them.  As for cats, outside the southern provinces I haven't heard of their being widely consumed so I would guess the national figure may not be much above the Guangdong figure, but certainly less than that for dogs.

From:  Dr. John Wedderburn

        Most prevalent in Guangdong where there is a long history of it.  But the habit has spread throughout China now. In Sichuan we found that the older generation disapproved of it but many younger people thought it was chic. It is also traditional in the North East near the Korean border - and the South West near the Vietnam border. And of course there are the attempts to modernise food-dog farming in the East.

CHINA,  REPUBLIC OF  (Taiwan):   an estimated 5,000 dogs are killed for meat illegally each year after the prohibition;   little or no cat eating

From: Wu Hung, EAST <eastmail@ms38.hinet.net>

        There is no official estimation of number of dogs been eaten every year before dog-meat trade was outlawed on Jan. 2001. However, the government did figure out that there were some 54 dog-meat restaurants throughout the island of Taiwan. If every restaurant sells 1 to 2 dogs at average each day -- which means they can earn somehow between NT30,000 to 60,000 (US$1.00 = NT34.00) each month,  an average earning for such small, rural or suburban business, at cost of each dog between NT$3000 to NT$1000, depends on their colors and profit at double -- I estimated there were some 20,000 to 50,000 dogs been eaten every year.

          After the trade was outlawed, both central and local governments did launch a few campaign to crackdown dog-meat restaurants, some dogs were rescued from slaughter house(the fine can be NT$2,000 to 10,000, each time proscuted).  I don't think it could be 100 % banned, but the volume may be reduced to one-tenth now,  which means 4-5 restaurants are still exist and some 5000 dogs are killed for meat each year.

    Cat meat is not popular in Taiwan.

From: "Paul Littlefair" <plittlefair@rspca.org.uk>

        Until the nineties dog meat was eaten to some extent by older people

who may have brought the custom from regions of mainland China where it

is popular. It had declined in popularity to such a degree that by 2001

the government was able to introduce a total ban. There may still be

some illegal, isolated consumption but no significant numbers (in the

hundreds?) and certainly no systematic farming. Local animal welfare

groups have successfully 'liberated' dogs awaiting slaughter at rural

restaurants.

        I have never heard of cats being killed for food in Taiwan.

INDIA:  more than 5,000 cats are eaten each year by members of a gypsy tribe,  with at least 10,000 dogs eaten annually in Nagaland;  estimates of dog eating in the other northeastern states are not available

From: Dr. S. Chinny Krishna, Blue Cross of India <drkrishna@aspick.com>

        I have no hard numbers I can give. However, the narikorvas, a gypsy tribe south India do eat cats. My estimate is that several thousands of cats are eaten each year (5-6000?)

          Dogs are eaten in the North Eastern states and, once again, I feel the numbers may run into a few thousands.

From: Maneka Gandhi, People for Animals <gandhim@alpha.nic.in>

        No idea.  But whole states like Nagaland have no dogs at all because they have all been eaten and there is huge trafficking in sending them dogs from the other states.  Imphal, Manipur has no dogs either.

From: Pradeep Kumar Nath, Visakha SPCA <vspcanath@satyam.net.in>

        When I was in Assam two years ago the issue of dog eating did come up and it was very evident that dogs were eaten mostly in Nagaland.  Stray dogs are collected and supplied from nearby states like West Bengal for a good price,  and also Burma,  where the lower tribes contribute.  Other areas involved are the North East state of Meghalaya,  Sikkim,  and Burma.   There are now very few dogs in those areas unless they are breeding for this purpose. 

        Regarding cats,  they are eaten by members of the lower schedule castes as well as by the gypsy tribes throughout India and by some people from Kerala.   Thus cat eating is not concentrated in one area whereas dog eating is concentrated in the North Eastern States with Nagaland the leader in dog-eating.

From: Swathi Buddhiraju, Visakha SPCA <vspcaswathi@yahoo.com>

        When the students of  Nagaland, Maghalaya, Sikkim, Burma and Manipuri will come to India they will be in search of dog meat it seems.

        I have contacted a few people but info has been scanty. There are 16 tribes in Nagaland alone. A segment of each of these tribes slaughters dogs for food,   The rough estimate given by one person is around 10,000 for the year,   however i have to confirm for accuracy.  Information as of now is a little hard to come by since the militant tribes of both Nagaland and Assam are also consumers.  In areas like Khamakhya there might be sacrifices also.

        It has been a prevalent norm since long so i doubt if anybody would be keeping track of it.

        Dog slaughter is relatively less in Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya.

        The cat-eating gypsies are found in our state also. They are nomadic and usually inhabit the slum areas, including those around railway stations.

INDONESIA:  dog and cat eating is prevalent in certain regions but no statistics are available

From:  Dedi,  ProFauna Headquaters (profauna@indo.net.id)

        When we conducted survey for the bear to Kalimantan (Borneo)-West and Central ones. It is unweird for the indigenous people (DAYAK Tribe) to eat the dog in their ritual or traditional ceremony. This custom could endangered both the dog and the 'eater': people..

        We were staying in one of Dayaks' house, and a neighbor of his

caught their home dog,  who usually accompanied them to go to jungle and

guard their house, and killed and ate it.

From:  Hardi from ProFauna Jarkata (profaunajkt@indo.net.id)

        I inform you that people in North Sumatra (Batak people) are also

eating dog. There are many - many restaurants that serve dog meat, usually signed with B1.

Photo from North Sulawesi, Indonesia:

http://www.rhymer.net/New%20Folder/dog.htm

JAPAN:   only isolated instances of dog and cat eating

From:  Elizabeth Oliver, ARK Refuge Kansai <ark@arkbark.net>

        Usually Japanese don't eat dogs or cats except in dire extremes like a world war. Certainly dogs and cats disappeared in Japan during the war years.  However there is a large Korean population in Japan, especially in the Kansai and I have heard that they eat dog meat which is mostly imported from China. There should be data available on this. I have also heard that certain people go into Morinomiya in Osaka, (the killing place for dogs from this area) in the dead of night , and kill animals inside. it is really hard to get evidence of  this and it might well be heresay. People working in that place are too afraid to talk to outsiders.

LAOS:  dog eating appears to be prevalent,  but there is no estimate of numbers of dogs killed

MALAYSIA:  there are only isolated instances of dog and cat eating

FROM: Pei Ling, Sarawak SPCA (plwee@pd.jaring.my)

        Cat has never been eaten here in Malaysia . Whereas for dog eating , it has become a dying trade as more people are aware that dog is man's best friend
now. But there are still a very minority of people are eating dogs here but

very few already!

From: Dr. G.S. Gill SPCA <spcapg@pd.jaring.my>

        In the sixties, there were three places rumored when dog meat was distributed in Penang.  Over the years with education and enforcement checks, this is now a thing of the past and unheard of in this area.  We are proud of our people. It is not a known practise to say that we use cats/dogs as meat for human consumption in Malaysia.

          Some exotic breeds do find their way on table tops to meet the taste of sick individuals, but this is not a practise that is done in eating places/restaurants.

          The Wildlife Deptartment in this country maintains a strict check on any such parties.

 MYANMAR (Burma) -  there is dog eating among tribal people,  but there is no estimate of numbers of dogs killed

From:  Pradeep Kumar Nath, Visakha SPCA, India <vspcanath@satyam.net.in>

        In Burma it is mainly the tribal people who eat dogs.

NEPAL:   dog and cat eating is illegal

From:  Dr. Joshi, National Zoonoses & Food Hygiene Research Center

(ddjoshi@healthnet.org.np)

        Dogs and Cats are never eaten in Nepal and it is illegal to slaughter dogs and cats.

PHILIPPINES:   estimated 290,000 dogs are eaten annually, with only isolated reports of cat eating

From: Freddie Farres, Linis Gobyerno <fjfarres@linisgobyerno.org>

        With regard to your email dated June 8, 2003  as to figures on

consumption of cats and dogs, at this point I really cannot give you a

reliable estimate on the consumption of cats in the Philippines.

However, based on numerous inquiries from various sources (nationwide),

as we did look into consumption of cats previously, it would appear

that cat eating over here is not a big thing. In fact when the idea of

eating cat is brought up to  a lot of individuals,  response to the

idea seems to be  negative idea. Although we have heard of some pocket

consumers (for personal consumption, nothing commercial unlike in the

dog trade) in the provinces of Pangasinan and Laguna (island of Luzon).

In fact some  25 years ago a rumor was spread regarding a well known

Chinese restaurant in the Philippines  that got caught unloading a

truck load of  dead cats that as claimed, would be used  as part

ingredients for their siopao (actually I'm not really  sure if it's

just a rumor or there actually was some truth to it). The effect on the

restaurant did have a very strong and negative backlash and their sales

from  a lot of client /customers stayed away from ordering their

siopao, and every now and then, to this date that info keeps coming up

on regular small talk.

        That could be an indication that even then, the idea of eating cats in

this country  is not well taken.  Sorry I can't give you any figures on

this, however, we will try to do more research and source more info on

this. I'll let you once I have more details.

        As to figures on dog consumption, the research we have done on the dog

trade market would cover this part of the country where we have strong

reason to believe accounts for up to 90%  or even higher of the dog

meat consumption market. Based on actual survey on number of outlets

serving dog meat  (retail, restaurants etc.)  including  wholesale

trading, there appears to be a market in the  amount P14,500,000.00

per month or  P174,000.000.00 per annum (Baguio City and Cordillera

region).

        Dogs killed for meat would be 24,166 dogs per month  X 12 months = 

 289,992 dogs per year.

SINGAPORE:  dog and cat eating is illegal with only isolated reportsrom: Madhaven, Singapore Animal Control <Madhavan_KANNAN@ava.gov.sg>

        As regards eating of dogs and cats, we do not allow slaughter of these
animals in Singapore. I have not heard of consumption of dog and cat meat

in Singapore.

From: Louis Ng, ACRES <louis@acres.org.sg>

        We had a press conference in 2002 with regards to the eating of dog and cat meat in South Korea. The Singapore Government's Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) gave ACRES the response attached below.

From:  Dr Yap Him Hoo, Head of Animal, Meat & Seafood Regulatory Branch,

for Director-General of Agri-food and Veterinary Services;  Agri-food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore; 5 Maxwell Road, #02-03; Tower Block MND Complex' Singapore 069110; Fax: 65-62276403: writing to Louis Ng of ACRES:

        Currently AVA has legislation governing the import of meat and the local

slaughter houses.  The legislation is known as the Wholesome Meat and Fish

Act.  Under the legislation, meat can only be imported from AVA approved

sources which have met AVA standards.  Similarly AVA also ensures that the

local slaughter houses meet AVA standards before it can be licensed for

production.

        Although the Act is primarily a food safety legislation, the Act has

provisions which allows AVA to regulate the treatment and handling of live

animals intended for slaughter and to regulate slaughtering methods.  The

welfare of animals is a major consideration during the treatment and

handling of live animals.  In the case of slaughter, AVA would accept

humane methods which are internationally acceptable.  AVA is not aware of

any humane methods of slaughtering of dogs/cats for human consumption.

        In the case of eating of dogs and cats, AVA is of the view that the habit is socially unacceptable in Singapore.  To date, AVA has not had any

request to import dog/cat meat.

From: Deirdre Moss, SPCA Singapore <eo@spca.org.sg>

        To our knowledge, there is no reported evidence of dog eating or cat eating here. It is strictly not permitted by the regulating authorities and is not an accepted practice. Anyone found guilty of killing and preparing these foods for consumption would be prosecuted for illegal slaughtering and possibly cruelty to animals depending on how the killing was carried out. We did have one case many years ago of foreign construction workers that were in the process of killing a stray dog possibly for consumption.  A witness reported it to the police and the perpetrators were jailed for the offence.

From: Dawn,  Cat Welfare Society <info@catwelfare.org>

        I don't think people here eat cat or dog. We have heard anecdotal stories, but these have never actually been proven and have sometimes come from rather suspect sources.

From: Irene "Nekocat" <nekobie@netvigator.com>

        For Singapore, I knew that there was a case, in think in late 1980s when some Thai Construction workers killed a dog and ate it at the construction site.  This case was taken up at the court.  Since then, there were no "official" or publicised cases of dogs/cats eating in Singapore although we know that the construction workers still practice this inhumane eating in Singapore.  One of my Japanese friends who works in the administration of a construction company in Singapore said to me before that the workers are secretly killing the dogs to eat them on site but I don't think there is any proof or evidence officially to substantiate or estimate the numbers.

SOUTH KOREA :   1.1 to 1.3 million dogs are eaten and 100,000 cats

From: Paul Littlefair, RSPCA <plittlefair@rspca.org.uk>

        I think your figures for Korea may be about right. I met with the head of the dog meat traders association in November 1999. He told me that consumption had halved over the decade since 1990, and I don't think there were ever more than 2-3 million dogs a year killed for food.  For cats the figure also seems reasonable or maybe a little high, given that there are only a handful of cats on sale alongside dogs at markets like Moran, Chung Ang etc.

        An interesting general point is that - although Korean traditional medicine follows Chinese practice fairly closely - the Chinese eat dog in the winter for its warming properties, whereas in Korea it's eaten at the height of summer. For me this simply underlines the spurious nature of the claims of the dealers for its supposed health benefits. (The Korean minority in China must get very confused!)

SRI LANKA:  only isolated reports of dog eating

From:  Champa from Sri Lanka (nihalas@slt.lk)

        There are no cat/dog meat restaurants in Sri Lankas. Long years ago a Chinese restaurant had allegedly sold cat meat and on several occasions there have been reports of dogs being killed and sold as goat meat. Recently a television programme highlighted killing of dogs and selling it as goat meat to unsuspecting buyers. This market also caters to some Koreans, it is alleged, who are working here. TV stations have highlighted this as well as

killing of reptiles for consumption.

RUSSIAN FAR EAST:  dogs are eaten in the areas adjacent to China,  where there is also theft of pet dogs for export to China,   but there are no estimates of numbers of dogs killed

THAILAND:   52,000 dogs per year are eaten

From:  Roger Lohanan, Thai Animal Guardians <roger2@asianet.co.th>

        Approximately 1,000 dogs a week or 52,000 a year [are eaten].

From:   Merritt Clifton,  ANIMAL PEOPLE editor <ANMLPEPL@whidbey.com>

        Thai construction workers in Israel were involved in a dog-eating scandal a few years ago--but they were not ethnic Thais.  Rather,  they were ethnic Chinese refugees from Vietnam,  with Thai passports.  This is the group responsible for virtually all of the dog-eating in Thailand,  as best I can tell.

VIETNAM:    an estimated 4-5 million dogs are eaten annually

From: Merritt Clifton,  ANIMAL PEOPLE editor <ANMLPEPL@whidbey.com>     

        Tet is a seven-day holiday during which dog consumption is high in Vietnam.  At 120 dogs/day X 300 restaurants in Hanoi,  Hanoi consumption during Tet would be 252,000.

        At 5/day x 300 restaurants during 2nd half of lunar month each month,  Hanoi consumption during the rest of the year would be 251,250.

        Total Hanoi restaurant consumption:  503,250.  Home consumption might be ballpark equal,  for roughly one million dogs eaten per year.

        Hanoi has about 4 million people,  Saigon has 4.6 million,  and Haiphong,  the third largest city,  has 1.7 million.

        If dogs are eaten at the same rate in Saigon,  where dog-eating was very little evident during the Vietnam War,  and in Haiphong,  total urban consumption would be about 2.6 million a year.

        Vietnam has 81 million human residents,  but the rural people are mostly very poor, probably unable to afford dog-eating at the urban level,  and among the many ethnic groups,  during the war years only the Montegnard were really known for dog-eating.

        However,  the war ended,  for the U.S.,  nearly 30 years ago.

        If all of Vietnam eats dogs at the Hanoi rate,  total consumption would be 20 million/year,  but I don't think that number is even remotely credible.  More likely,  since Hanoi is the center of government and fairly affluent by Vietnamese standards,  without the westernization that occurred in Saigon,  I suspect that from half to a third of all the dog-eating in the country goes on right there.

        If you project all urban dog-eating at the Hanoi level and rural dog-eating at 10% of that level,  you get total consumption of between four and five million.  That might be credible--although again I would be very surprised if Saigon residents ate dogs at the Hanoi rate.

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