The Morality and Supply Problem in the Practice of Eating Dog Meat in Indonesia
Problems like these are never so clear cut.
Intro: I’m no expert on dog meat, not a Bataknese, neutral on the matter of eating dog meat, no expert on supply, and definitely not the holiest person in the room. So I have zero credibility but hell just hear me out. This piece is meant to invoke more questions instead of answering then.
I saw an Instagram post of an Instagram Celebrity promoting @dogmeatfreeindonesia, denouncing dog meat for human consumption with hashtag such as #DogsAreFriendsNotFood. Netizens being netizens, of course, supported her cause.
See, I got curious at one point why are some people against eating dog meat. So I go around and asked a few contacts on their stance on this issue. I got a few interesting response, but I’ll start with the most common answer:
“Dogs are pets, they are friends. We are not supposed to eat them”
Some answers make me feel like I’m downright evil for even questioning this.
On the interest of maintaining my meager amount of friends, I didn’t dare to press the issue further. For example, why am I not supposed to eat them? Personally, I don’t find the ‘dogs are friends’ answer satisfactory. Some people are also against eating rabbit meat, but I haven’t seen any movement related to rallying to end rabbit meat trade. Also, why are we standing up for dogs, but not for pigs? Or goats? Or pretty much any other animal we consume?
To go about this issue, I’ll try to investigate what it is that makes it’s okay to consume goat (pig is not a very good comparison since it’s not kosher) but somehow you turn into a demon if you consume dog meat.
Recalling the most common answer to why thou shalt not eat dog meat, it’s because ‘dogs are pets’. Goat, on the other hand, is not really a pet. Goat is livestock.
What is livestock? Well since this is not scientific paper, let me copy-paste from wikipedia:
“ Livestock are domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce labor and commodities such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to those that are bred for consumption, while other times it refers only to farmed ruminants, such as cattle and goats.”
There, so goats are kept to be consumed. While dogs, usually are kept around not to be consumed, but to be a ‘companion’. Although in some parts of the world dog meat is a common delicacy, for example, in South Korea (yeah your handsome Oppa(s) might be a fan of dog meat, sorry), in Taiwan, China (there is even a festival dedicated to eating dog meat), India, etc.
This creates a difference in our mindset that we deem it normal to consume goat since that’s the way it has been since long long ago. While dogs, we deem it abnormal to consume them since to our knowledge and bias, we are used to have dogs as companion since long long ago. The idea of consuming dog meat becomes foreign. Remembering that “dog is man’s best friend” doesn’t help either.
Why do we take dogs as our companion? If we ask today’s generation, they’ll probably answer because dogs are cute and goats are somehow less cute (this claim is without prior research, so go ahead and debunk it). So this creates another difference between dogs and goat. Dogs are cute, goats are less so. Also, dogs are also used to aid with hunting, meaning we perceive dogs to be having more value 1) cute 2) badass enough to go hunting, while goat 1)not so cute 2) can’t hunt.
For a moment. Let us think of man as just another animal, a homo sapiens. Now think of them as a race in a country.
Suppose there are three races, homo sapiens is the most intelligent and dominant ethnic in terms of population number, Canis lupus familiaris (that’s dog) race is made up of beautiful and cute creatures, while Capra aegagrus hircus (that’s goat) looks kind of dumb and less beautiful according to homo sapiens standard.
Homo sapiens then treats Canis lupus familiaris favorably because they are cute, and enslaves Capra aegagrus hircus because they don’t look too good and a tad embarrassing to be around with.
See where I’m going with this?
In simpler terms, Chad, the coolest guy in class, treats Betty like a princess because Betty is cute. While Barbara is bullied because she does not meet Chad’s standard of beauty, maybe she is bald, or too timid, or too skinny, or not too fashionable, I don’t know man ok.
Yeah it kinda looks like discrimination. Or at least favoritism.
I’m not saying it is wrong to be against eating dog meat. It’s just that not eating dog meat does not seem to be as noble as they make it out to be.
Other arguments around the internet centers around how dogs are more sentient than other livestock, and thou shalt not consume intelligent beings. I know nothing about sentience, but I’ll just drop this link to this random study I found about pig intelligence. In a nutshell, pigs are not dumber than dogs. But still some of us consume pork, and they are damn good.
I believe our stance against dog meat is based on our bias and emotional attachment to dogs. See, common arguments central around how they are cute and they are friends and they are supposed to be played around with not eaten. They are all judgments made on our own bias.
There ARE other legitimate reasons to regulate the dog meat trade industry, for example safety and health standard for dog meat. Still, being against dog meat does not make you nobler, and being neutral about this does not make you more intelligent or open-minded, and being very in favor on eating dog meat..makes you kind of a douchebag I guess. Don’t tell me what to or not to eat.
Just eat what you want, don’t force your view unto others, and we are good.
It is cool to advocate a cause you believe in, but still keep in mind that everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
Onto the second matter. It’s the supply of dog meat. Where do they come from? I definitely haven’t heard of a dog farm specializing in dog meat in Indonesia. There are a lot of them in South Korea though, if you still remember, during the 2014 Asian Games in South Korea, there was this outrage because western foreigners are not accustomed to being offered dog meat.
I asked a trusted friend about this, and this was his response:
“To my knowledge, dog meats are usually acquired by stealing or nabbing a random dog on street. I haven’t heard of any legitimate dog farm.”
— 22 y.o. Forensic Analyst from a Big 4 Firm
If that’s true, that’s actually a good reason to stand against the dog meat trade industry. Because it’s acquired illegitimately, which also means it does not pass proper health check (if there’s any).
A quick google search revealed in several pages that the source of the dogs used in restaurants are unclear. So let’s explore a bit. We have got several questions:
- How do Lapo(s) (that Bataknese restaurant that offers dope roasted pork and of course dog meat) procure their dog meat supply?
- Is there a ‘dog farm’ around?
- Is it legal to procure dog meat in Indonesia?
First of all, the source of the dog meat. There are many accounts on the internet stating that the the dog meat are bought in the market, but it ends there. I have not found anything explaining where the dog meat merchant in the market got their dog meat in the first place. Quoting from a piece from kompas.com (loosely translated):
“ The merchant explained, that they receive their supply from various sources, whether from ‘collectors’ or people who wanted to sell their dogs.”
As to where these ‘collectors’ got their supply, I haven’t found any information on that.
This shows that we don’t really know from where we are getting those dog meat. It could be, like my friend said, nabbed randomly on street. Or even worse, stolen from other dog owners.
Another quick google search about ‘dog farm’ reveals that there ARE dog farms, but these are intended for dogs as pets, not human consumption. These farms breed the dogs in such way to engineer their heritage, and to achieve certain desirable looks/race.
So in short, the source is unclear, and there are little information about known dog meat farm.
Why is that so?
I believe that this is because the market is not yet regulated.
You see, the dog meat market is in a some kind of ‘grey area’ in Indonesia. Here we copy-pasted again from wikipedia:
“ Indonesia is predominantly Muslim, a faith which considers dog meat, along with pork, to be haram (ritually unclean). Therefore, Muslims do not eat it. However, dog meat is eaten by several of Indonesia’s non-Muslim minorities”
In 2015, there was this debacle in Jakarta when the governor back then wanted to regulate dog meat trade in Jakarta. He wanted to at least dog trade are supervised, and dog meats to be health checked to prevent rabies. Then he also prohibited establishing a dog farm in Jakarta. So back then it was not really regulated.
In newer news, Indonesia is actually trying to ban dog meat as written here. The reasons cited for the ban being pressure from local animal rights group and pressure from the western world. Some feared that not banning dog meat consumption may brand Indonesia as ‘barbaric’ and could impact tourism. Also reasons for banning is to prevent rabies from dog meat consumption.
It’s because the market is not yet regulated, so merchants have no obligation to make clear about their source of dog meat. They can procure it any way they can because they are not obligated to do so through appropriate channels. Also the same with health checks. It costs money. So if it’s not mandatory, of course they won’t. They’ll just check using their experience to tell if the dog got rabies or not.
So now we have several reasons to not eat dog meat:
- Dogs are friends (most commonly cited)
- Dogs are not meant to be consumed because they are pets (most commonly cited)
- Rabies, no regulation for health checking of dog meat (government considerations)
- Pressure from NGOs (government considerations)
- Pressure from international communities which might impact tourism (government considerations)
While this is my personal list for not to:
- Rabies, no regulation for health checking of dog meat. I don’t wanna die ok.
- Could be stolen. I still have some morality to make me feel bad about eating stolen goods.
I myself believe that we shouldn’t consume dog meat when it’s not yet clearly regulated yet. Because it might be stolen, or haven’t undergo proper health checks. As to other reasons, I believe international pressure is a pretty strong reason too to stop. Too bad for dog meat lovers, but it looks like soon you will have to submit your desire to our foreigners overlords.
All in all, as for the matter of personal view, eating dog meat or not is a choice and it’s all cool. But because we live in a country that somehow cares about its citizens’ opinions, it might be soon be banned no matter what your personal stance is.
So for dog meat lovers, enjoy it responsibly while you still can and don’t let anyone to tell you not to for reasons you don’t personally believe in. For ‘dogs-are-friends’ folks, congrats. Your struggle might pay off after all.
But remember, if dog meat really got banned, it might have unintended consequences. For example, since it’s become illegal, it will become harder to procure dog meat. And being banned does not automatically kill off the demand.
What will happen if the demand stays high as ever, but the supply is cut short?
The price will be jacked up, that is, in the black market presumably.
Think of it like this. Before the ban, people in Jakarta wanted 600 units of dog meat per month, and the usual price was IDR 50,000/Kg. But suddenly, because of the ban, dog meat becomes a rare item. People still want 600 units of this rare item, but there is limited quantity of them to go around. A shortage in supply because of the dog meat ban. And when there is a supply shortage, the supply curve shifts leftward since there is less amount to go around at a given price.
Thus merchants will raise the price let’s say to IDR 80,000/Kg, because they know people still want the dog meat and everybody knows there is only so little to go around.
And it will provide even more incentive for them dog meat merchants to steal/nab/procure it anyway they can.
[Will update this piece after getting firsthand information from a nearby Lapo and more economically savvy friends, if you know of any legit source of dog meats, or any updates in regulations, please feel free to inform me!]
