One of Cambodia’s main tourist attractions is the UNESCO World Heritage Listed 12th century Angkor Wat Temple in Siem Reap. The location is also famous among dog eaters for its dog meat restaurants.

Small plates of fried dog meat cost US$1 each in Siem Reap and dogs are seen as cheap and freely available. Eating dog meat is legal in Cambodia and its usually washed down with Anchor beer.

Locals falsely believe that if you eat the meat of a black dog or drink its blood, any internal illnesses you may have will be cured. But according to locals this is only true if the dog has no white or brown spots anywhere on its body.

Western tourists are shielded from Cambodia’s dog meat trade to protect tourist dollars! If tourists saw what really goes on in the dirty side streets at dog slaughterhouses they would completely change their view of Cambodia, which is marketed as having some kind of pseudo-zen factor. There is no zen for dogs or cats in Cambodia.

Tourism is one of the four pillars supporting Cambodia’s economy. Cambodia’s top three tourist nations are Vietnam, China and South Korea, which are all dog and cat eating countries.

Cambodia proudly caterers for it’s dog eating tourists, which I have witnessed first hand in Siem Reap, as bus loads of South Korean and Chinese guests were bused to ‘specialized’ restaurants for dinner – which no westerners were ever invited to.

Take one more look at the photograph and remember that as millions of tourists enjoy their day at Cambodian tourist attractions such as Angkor Watt Temple, pet dogs and street dogs are being forcibly taken by dog snatchers, to be sold to dog butchers for dog meat, to served on dinner plates later that night.

Thank you for reading,

Michele Brown
Founder,
Fight Dog Meat.