According to research by , the province of Siem Reap is a hotspot for the nationwide dog meat trade. The dog meat needs in the east of the country – especially in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh – are also covered with the more than 7,000 dogs caught there every month. Until recently, the brutal trade continued unchecked, although dog meat consumption is controversial. In a market research study, fewer than 12 percent of Cambodians said they eat the meat regularly.
In the course of their investigations, visited 21 restaurants in the city of the same name, Siem Reap, which process around 2,900 dogs per month. Many of the bars are in the immediate vicinity of the world-famous Angkor Wat temple complex. In the province, also discovered a dog slaughterhouse and five facilities where the dogs are kept until they are slaughtered. Minibuses transport at least 3,750 live dogs, penned up in small cages, from Siem Reap to the major slaughterhouses in Kampong Cham, Kampong Thom and Skun every month. There they are drowned, stabbed or hanged, depilated and sold by wholesalers to over a hundred documented dog meat restaurants in Phnom Penh.
According to research, the dog meat trade in Cambodia is a for-profit business. A live dog fetches between €1.80 and €2.70 per kilo, while a kilo of raw dog meat sells for up to €3.60. A dog meat dish costs less than one euro. Men make up the majority of consumers. After the work is done, they consume the meat as a bar snack. Women, on the other hand, do not eat dog meat in public, but eat it at home – often due to the misconception that the meat has healing properties. Both domestic animals and stray dogs are traded for their meat. Many of these are captured around pagodas and on the streets, or even stolen from their homes.
works in Cambodia with the local animal welfare organization Animal Rescue Cambodia and with the Cambodian Mine Action Center – a service of the Cambodian government. has launched an international campaign to end the brutal trade in dog and cat meat in Southeast Asia. «Through educational work and cooperation with the responsible authorities and tourism associations, governments should be encouraged to introduce strict animal protection laws that prohibit the trapping, slaughtering and eating of dogs and cats,» explains dr Karanvir Kukreja, veterinarian and project manager of the anti-dog meat campaign. In addition, supports local animal welfare organizations and communities with humane and sustainable dog and cat population management programs. is also part of the animal protection coalitions DMFI (Dog Meat Free Indonesia) and ACPA (Asia Canine Protection Alliance), which lobby against the trade in Southeast Asia.
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also has one petition started against the dog and cat meat trade, which has already signed more than 800,000 supporters worldwide. You get to the petition here.