Just a few days before Christmas, a homeless street dog lay dead on the side of the road, next to the busy Orussey Market. An animal lover who saw the dead dog phoned the Cambodian Animals Protection Association, who set off to collect the dog’s carcass.

As the animal lover stayed with the dead dog, market shoppers began to gather around the dog, with many of them demanding to have the dead dog’s body for dog meat. Some shoppers wanted to sell the dog’s body for money and others wanted to eat it, with their own family. No one seemed to care how the dog died or the threat of serious health risks if consumed.

To the animal lover’s credit she fended off all attempts which shoppers made to take the dog away, as she stood guard until the Cambodian animal lover’s group arrived. After the group of animal lovers removed the dog’s body, it was given a respectful proper burial.

While some people argued afterwards, about the right to eat dog meat, a very good comment was made: “It’s not about your right of eating dog meat, it’s about the problem you create when you eat dog meat.”

Many dogs in Cambodia’s dog meat trade are stolen pets which are very loved. Most of them are wearing collars and name tags. Almost daily, I speak with animal lovers inside dog and cat eating countries who have had their own loved pets stolen for meat, never to be returned.

The dog meat trade not only poses serious health risks to people working in the trade and consumers of the meat, but it also leaves families shattered when their loved pet is stolen.

I would like to thank Fight Dog Meat’s Cambodian representative, Mary, for bringing this story to our attention.

Thank you for reading,

Michele Brown
Founder,
Fight Dog Meat.