INDIAN STATE OF NAGALAND BANS SALE OF DOG MEAT
The government authorities in Nagaland—a state in upper east India—formally prohibited the import, exchange, and offer of live dogs and dog meat. The ban will spare an expected 30,000 dogs from slaughter according to animal-rights group Humane Society International (HSI)/India.
While dog meat has been restricted in India since 2011 through the Food Safety and Standards Regulation, the enactment is ineffectively upheld and dogs are illegally taken from boulevards and homes.
“The suffering of dogs in Nagaland has long cast a dark shadow over India, and so this news marks a major turning point in ending the cruelty of India’s hidden dog meat trade,” Alokparna Sengupta, HSI/India’s managing director, said.
“Our own investigation in Nagaland showed terrified dogs being subjected to horrific deaths in some of the worst inhumanity to animals HSI/India has ever witnessed.
And the dogs we have rescued from this trade over the years have had to learn to trust humans again after the cruel treatment they endured.”
HSI India propelled a marketing campaign in 2016 to uncover the nation’s concealed dog meat exchange with the release of a video recording documenting dog meat death pits in Nagaland.
A week ago, Indian Member of Parliament Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi made an open statement to encourage the administration to take action against the dog meat exchange after she got new photos of the brutal industry from a local animal-rights group.
The lawmaker’s appeal brought about 125,000 individuals writing to the Nagaland government for a boycott.
The State Government has decided to ban commercial import and trading of dogs and dog markets and also the sale of dog meat, both cooked and uncooked. Appreciate the wise decision taken by the State’s Cabinet @Manekagandhibjp @Neiphiu_Rio
— Temjen Toy (@temjentoy) July 3, 2020
“We warmly thank Smt. Maneka Gandhi for her leadership and the vital impetus she has provided in achieving this decision from the Government of Nagaland so quickly after the latest evidence emerged,” Sengupta said.
“We also congratulate the Government of Nagaland and offer our support so that this decision can be robustly implemented. The Government of Nagaland has shown great leadership and we urge other states such as Mizoram, Tripura, and Arunachal Pradesh to follow by implementing a dog meat trade ban, too.”