Australian Tourism Fuels Dog Meat Trade In Bali

Animals Australia recently carried out an investigation into Bali’s hidden meat trade and its disturbing connection to Australian tourism. What the animal protection organization uncovered through its investigation will be aired on the ABC’s 7.30 program on Monday night, and here’s what they have uncovered.

Australian tourists in Bali are being fed dog meat instead of “chicken satay.” Some tourists had questioned whether street vendors were selling chicken, and it turns out, their skepticism was on point.

Bali is successful as a tourist destination because of it’s low-cost and widely available food. “Tourists will walk down a street, they’ll see a street store selling satay but what they are not realizing is the letters RW on the store mean it is dog meat being served,” Animals Australia campaign director Lyn White told the ABC.

Part of Bali’s appeal for tourists is cost-effective accommodation and food, but most tourists have no idea that the letters “RW” on the outside of popular street food stalls indicate that it is dog meat being served. Mobile dog meat vendors are also actively targeting tourists on beaches, offering satays from tubs. They are deliberately not disclosing that they are selling dog meat. –Animals Australia

And dog meat vendors have been caught on film lying to tourists about what they’re selling. Tourists were seen asking a vendor if he had chicken satay, not dog satay, to which he replied he did not have dog meat, although the same vendor had earlier been heard saying he was been selling “dog satay” to an Animals Australia investigator. The investigator, known only as Luke, said he was also asked to join key players in the local dog trade as “gangs stole, hunted, poisoned and killed dogs,” after he gained their trust. Luke described what he saw as “brutal” and heard dogs screaming and wailing as they were caught. Although there is no law against eating dog meat, some believe the way the dogs are treated before their death crosses an ethics line, and we agree.

According to Animals Austrailia, a horrifying video was captured by Luke showing dogs being shot in the street and being put in bags before they are bound and bludgeoned to death. But Animals Austrailia says that that isn’t even the worst of the problem. Family dogs are being stolen to fuel the tourist industry, by providing meat. Dogs can be lured with cyanide-laced bait, and once captured or stolen, a pet is strangled or bludgeoned to death before it’s slaughtered for sale to Austrailian tourists. The way the dogs are killed with poisons also presents health risks to unknowing Austrailian tourists.

 So, unfortunately, that still isn’t the end of the horrors in Bali. White said that poisoned dog meat has been served to tourists and organ damage or shortness of breath could result. Independent testing of dog meat samples in Bali showed 27 times the safe level of E.coli, a bacteria found in feces and transmitted by unsafe food handling.

Be aware of where and how you spend your money. Voting with your wallet is a much more effective method of enacting change than any sort of government interference. Hopefully, once tourists realize that they are being served dog meat from animals who suffered violently for that little morsel, they will realize that that “chicken satay” is probably not worth the suffering the dog went through.