This is disgusting…
Tourists in Bali have been unknowingly consuming dog meat that is being sold as chicken, a new investigation has revealed.
Bali is a popular destination for travellers and is known for having a diverse range of visitors, from backpackers to people on a luxury holiday or honeymoon.
Animal protection organisation Animals Australia recently carried out an investigation in Bali after hearing claims that dog meat was being sold to tourists disguised as chicken.
The investigation was entitled, ‘Bali’s hidden meat trade – and its disturbing connection to Australian tourism’.
During the investigation, AA found that dogs were being captured and often brutally killed throughout Bali with their meat being sold to tourists in the streets and in restaurants.
A video in the investigation shows a group of Australians asking the vendor (who earlier confirmed it was dog meat) if the satays are dog meat.
Seller: “Satay just $1.”
Australian: “Mystery bag. What is, chicken?”
Seller: “Satay.”
Australian: “Satay chicken, not dog?”
Seller: “No, not dog.”
Australian: “I’m happy just as long as it’s not dog.”
Eating dog meat in Bali is not illegal, but the cruel way which the meat trade for human consumption works is illegal, according to Animals Australia’s campaign director Lyn White.
Over a four-month period, an investigator for AA (named Luke, to protect his identity) went undercover in Bali to find out about the dog meat trade in Bali, posing as a documentary maker interested in the local cuisine.
He soon discovered that thousands of dogs are being caught and bludgeoned to death, hung, poisoned, or shot, then sold by street vendors or in up to 70 restaurants on the island.
Luke witnessed dogs being captured, then thrown into small cages and left to soak in their own urine and faeces, then taken out and bludgeoned to death. As a worker for AA, he’s used to dealing with animal cruelty, but he said nothing prepared him for the atrocities committed on these dogs in Bali.
Health experts have also highlighted the potential health hazards of consuming dog meat.
“If you are eating, for example, a curry and it was including bits of the animal stomach or the heart, then you would expect really high concentrations of cyanide… which could be fatal,” Dr Andrew Dawson, director at the New South Wales Poisons Information Centre said to the Independent.
You can see the full investigation here.
