DENPASAR: A Bali birthday party with dog meat on the menu has shocked Indonesians on social media and caught police attention.
Law enforcement officers and an animal welfare group raided the party in the Tabanan regency of the island.
The Bali Dog Guardians (BDG) group said they found a cooked dog at the location.
Its chairperson, Yanti Rosmiati, on Monday (Sep 9) told local online news platform Detik that the raid was carried out on Saturday night, after previously receiving information from a resident regarding a party with dog meat on the menu.
“In the afternoon we received a report from residents, and in the evening the BDG team and I immediately went to the location,” she said.
Tabanan police and BDG found remains of flesh, bones and pieces of a dog’s skull.
“Initially, they said the dog meat was gone. I asked about the remaining bones. They denied it, saying it was all gone,” said Ms Yanti.
The party attendees admitted to acquiring the dog and killing it by hitting its head.
Ms Yanti and the police had a discussion with the party attendees who asked for a peaceful resolution, but she said the incident would still be processed as an alleged animal abuse case.
Tabanan police chief I Nyoman Sumantara confirmed the incident and said the case was still being investigated for the alleged crime, which carries a sentence of three months or a fine of 4,500 rupiah (US$0.29).
“There were 15 people who were questioned. According to their statements, the dog meat they consumed was obtained from residents because the dogs were fierce and often chased (them),” he said on Tuesday.
“We are still investigating the report of this dog abuse. Information from the crime scene is being collected,” he added.
A video recording of the commotion was also posted by BDG on its Instagram account, sparking angry comments from netizens.
“I am really astonished by such humans. It’s as if there is no other food to eat. Hopefully those who have eaten (the dog meat) will soon get their bad karma,” said an Instagram user with the handle @novi_1590.
Another user @gegclumsy said: “The illegal consumption of dog meat which is still rampant in Bali must be eradicated with no excuses.”
VARIOUS PROSECUTIONS AMID UNEVEN TRADE BAN
While there is no national ban on the trade, Bali’s provincial government prohibits the distribution and sale of dog meat.
Offenders may be jailed for up to three months or fined at least 50 million rupiah.
Last May, two dog meat traders in the Buleleng regency were sentenced to 10 months probation for violating the regulation.
In July this year, Bali’s municipal police (Satpol PP) seized 500 dog meat skewers and 56kg of raw dog meat from traders in the Jembrana regency.
According to British news outlet The Independent, authorities acted on an investigation by non-governmental organisation Animals International, which found that Australian tourists were being duped into eating the dog meat satay.
The dog satay seller was given a warning, while the other two sellers who were repeat offenders were charged with committing misdemeanour.
Nationwide, only 22 out of 514 cities and regencies across Indonesia have issued regulations, in one form or the other, against the sale of dog and cat meat.
These include two areas in the province of Central Java: Semarang, Indonesia’s sixth biggest city, as well as the Sukoharjo regency which was once notorious for its dog and cat meat trade.
In January, the police intercepted a truck in Semarang carrying 226 dogs shackled and bound for the slaughterhouse. Five truck crew members were arrested, AFP news agency reported.
According to the police, the dogs were on their way to the neighbouring city of Solo, where they would have been slaughtered and their meat sold for consumption in West Java.
Activists have estimated more than a million dogs and thousands of cats are slaughtered each year in Indonesia, where some communities believe that consuming dog or cat meat can cure various ailments such as dengue and body aches, although these claims have never been scientifically proven.
Around 70 per cent of the 1 million dogs consumed in Indonesia come from North Sulawesi, mainly in the cities of Manado and Tomohon, as well as the Minahasa regency.
In July 2023, the notorious Tomohon Extreme Market in Indonesia’s North Sulawesi province, ended the sale of dog and cat meat after years of activist pressure to ban the trade and its brutal methods of slaughter.
