[continued from previous message]   
      
   A regional director of the Philippines National Meat Inspection   
   Commission publicly stated several years ago that consumption of dog   
   meat is “dangerous,” as it is not inspected by the Commission.   
   Consuming dog meat thus puts individuals at considerable risk of   
   infection from harmful bacteria such as E. Coli 107 and Salmonella   
   (commonly found in contaminated meats), as well as at increased risk   
   of contracting potentially deadly diseases such as anthrax,   
   brucellosis, cholera, hepatitis, and leptospirosis.   
      
   Dog meat is further linked to the spread of rabies—a disease that   
   kills approximately 10,000 dogs and 300 people in the Philippines   
   annually. Evidence shows that the rabies virus can be present, and   
   therefore potentially transmitted to humans, throughout all stages of   
   the dog meat industry—sourcing, trading, slaughtering, butchering, and   
   meat preparation—impeding efforts toward eradicating rabies in the   
   region. The World Health Organization has noted that “controlling   
   trade in and [the] movement of dogs” along with the promotion of mass   
   dog vaccination campaigns is key to dog rabies control and the   
   disease's eventual elimination. In order to pursue this goal, the   
   Philippine government included a prohibition regarding the trade of   
   dog meat in the 2007 Rabies Act and stated a nationwide goal of   
   eradicating rabies by 2020—a target that cannot be achieved unless the   
   dog meat trade is shut down.   
      
   There are, however, developments that seem to indicate the beginning   
   of a positive change. The Wildlife Division of the NBI recently raided   
   nine restaurants. Additionally, Network for Animals took the lead on   
   conducting a slaughterhouse raid in the town of Malasiqui, about 50   
   miles south of Baguio, by providing resources such as surveillance and   
   funding for the management of the raid. On December 5, 2012, with the   
   cooperation of local authorities, seven dog meat traders were   
   arrested, 22 dogs were rescued, and 49 dog carcasses were confiscated.   
   (As of press time, a trial date for the arrested traders has not yet   
   been set.) While the local police were involved in the raid,   
   enforcement needs to be initiated by domestic law enforcement rather   
   than international nonprofit organizations in order for such successes   
   to continue on a regular, widespread basis.   
      
   The illegal dog meat industry in the Philippines causes harm in many   
   ways, from the extreme physical and mental suffering of hundreds of   
   thousands of dogs to the significant costs to human health. In order   
   to successfully eradicate the trade in dogs for human consumption,   
   mechanisms of enforcement need to be established at the provincial,   
   municipal, and village levels to ensure that such a cruel industry has   
   no ground on which to stand.   
      
   It is also crucial to work with local communities to raise awareness   
   of the risks that the dog meat industry poses to both human health and   
   animal welfare, and for local law enforcement officers to be   
   adequately equipped with the skills, knowledge and motivation to   
   enforce existing laws. The objective is to have the Philippine   
   Department of the Interior as well as local governments ensure that   
   the national ban is consistently and aggressively enforced in the dog   
   meat regions of the country in order to demonstrate a serious   
   commitment to ending this inhumane industry.   
      
   On To Thailand   
   After a week in the Philippines, I flew to Phuket, Thailand, to visit   
   Soi Dog Foundation (SDF) and meet its founder, John Dalley. The week   
   before I arrived, SDF conducted three raids and saved 520 dogs from   
   unimaginable suffering. Even though the dog meat trade is illegal in   
   Thailand, dogs are frequently rounded up off the streets—90 percent of   
   them estimated to be pets—and smuggled across the Mekong River into   
   Vietnam, where the dog meat trade is rampant due to a common belief   
   that it has warming properties that aid in maintaining health and   
   recovering from illness. The main consumers of the meat are wealthy   
   Vietnamese businessmen who can afford its high price.   
      
   The Thai Veterinary Medical Association estimated that in 2011 half a   
   million dogs were being smuggled into Vietnam annually to be   
   slaughtered. Following increasing pressure by SDF and others, the   
   number is currently far less than this, though many dogs are now being   
   slaughtered locally and the meat smuggled instead. Hence, despite the   
   national ban, the illegal trade in Thailand is worth approximately 1   
   billion Thai baht a year—over US$30 million. The Thai government does   
   not have the necessary funding to adequately protect its dog   
   population from the illegal meat trade. The Department of Livestock   
   Development is charged with sheltering and providing for the dogs   
   rescued from the trade, yet it currently has no budget for this (since   
   dogs are not considered livestock animals in Thailand).   
      
   In Thailand as in other places, the dog meat trade is conducted with   
   callous cruelty; dogs are packed for days in small cages, and many die   
   before they reach their final destination from heat exhaustion or   
   asphyxiation. In many places where dog meat is consumed, including   
   Thailand, there is a common belief that dog meat is more tender if it   
   is permeated by adrenaline just prior to slaughtering. As a result,   
   dogs are intentionally killed slowly so as to increase their intense   
   fear and stress. Dogs are boiled alive, beaten to death, hung, or   
   skinned alive for their meat.   
      
   Tragically, even dogs rescued from such a horrific end are not   
   guaranteed a life of recovery and health. Dogs in Thailand are not   
   routinely vaccinated. According to SDF, a full 70 percent of the   
   rescued dogs end up dying from disease, as well as injuries and   
   starvation.   
      
   In June, CNN.com prominently featured articles covering the dog meat   
   trade in Thailand and Vietnam. We are very glad to see this issue   
   finally gaining mainstream global attention. While it is important to   
   raise international awareness on the illegal dog meat trade in these   
   countries, we also want this to take root as a solid, locally-based   
   campaign. Citizens of these countries need to put political pressure   
   on their governments from within in order to ensure compliance with   
   their own national bans on the trade.   
      
      
   https://postimg.cc/0r8NkFQy   
      
   Goodbye gooks!   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)