MILLIONS CRUELLY
THE TRUE extent of Cambodia’s dog meat trade is today laid bare as the Sunday Express reveals that millions of dogs are being killed to fulfil the growing demand for their meat.
Cages stuffed with man’s best friend, some infected with rabies, were discovered lining the floor of a dark and foul-smelling shed near Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh.
At the end of the dungeon, covered in cobwebs, are giant concrete tubs known as drowning pits.
A young macaque sits chained above the putrid water. As cages of dogs are brought to the pit, the monkey watches. Realising their fate, the animals cry out in terror before they are hauled up and dunked.
The water bubbles and churns, as the dogs fight in vain to survive. Finally, it turns still. And then the process is repeated, cage after cage, day after day.
Leading the fight against the barbaric trade is animal welfare organisation Four Paws, spearheaded by a heroic Briton. Matt Backhouse and the charity have unearthed numerous locations around the country where dogs are slaughtered.
The gruesome scenes have now been captured by British environmental photojournalist Aaron Gekoski.
“I’ve been covering stories of human-animal conflict for over a decade, but this is one of the toughest assignments I’ve ever worked on,” says Aaron. “This imagery has been haunting my dreams, I can’t get the dogs’ terror out of my mind.
“The slaughterhouse with the macaque was a scene from hell. The stench, the sounds the dogs were making, the implements used to kill them scattered everywhere.
“It was heartbreaking.
Some were shaking and trembling, others throwing up or defecating everywhere. Some were biting at the cages, causing their teeth to fall out.
“Dogs are loyal and intelligent. They are supposed to be man’s best friend, yet look what we’re doing to them.”
There are more than half a dozen dog meat restaurants within a three-mile radius Angkor Cambodia’s famous attraction.
More than a million people visit these temples of Wat, most tourist every year, oblivious to the suffering that is happening close by.
In Phnom Penh, there are more than 100 dog meat restaurants, and that figure is growing.
“The industry involves an extensive network of traders, dealers, suppliers and slaughterhouses,” says Four Paws’s Matt, 34, from Leeds. “Between two to three million dogs are now being consumed in Cambodia every year.”
He has been living in Asia for more than a decade, dedicating his life to helping stray animals.
“I’ve seen the dog meat trade all over Asia. However, what is happening in Cambodia receives almost no attention compared to the Yulin dog meat festival or farming of dogs in South Korea. The industry is growing out of sight at a worrying rate.” To supply the growing demand, dogs are rounded up from the streets daily. Some are unwanted pets that are either exchanged for a pot or pan or bought for £2.35 per kg. Others are strays, whose bones can be broken during brutal collection. The dogs are then forced into small cages, loaded on to mopeds or specially equipped cars, and transported to slaughterhouses.
“On these journeys they aren’t given food or water and are left to bake in the heat. Some will die of stress or dehydration en route,” adds Matt.
For those that make the slaughterhouses alive, hell – and death – awaits. Most are drowned but other methods are used, all of which cause intense suffering. Dogs might be clubbed over the head and stabbed in the neck, put in a pot of hot water which aids ripping out their fur, or hung from a tree, which takes more than 20 minutes for them to die. The carcasses are sold to restaurants for curries and soups, or grilled over hot coals. Both tail and head are delicacies: a head, with brain inside, will sell for £2. Four Paws found that it is young men who have a growing taste for the meat. Many women think it is shameful to eat dog but may do so for perceived health benefits. Doctors in Cambodia often