Demand for dog meat up in Byo, Nkayi

THE demand for dog meat has gone up at Bulawayo’s only dog meat vending site near Westgate with the owner revealing that enterprising women are coming to buy the meat in bulk and resell in restaurants frequented by unsuspecting gold panners in Nkayi, Matabeleland North province.

A Bulawayo man only known as Mr Ndebele has literally monopolised the unusual trade in dog meat after setting base at a dumpsite used by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) to bury dogs that would have been put down.

The man emerged last year when he was arrested for exhuming the dogs and skin their carcasses before selling to unsuspecting people in the city.

Last week, Sunday News visited Mr Ndebele where he boasted that he was back in business with demand skyrocketing especially from women and even some well to do people in the city who are coming driving in latest cars to buy dog meat.

The man has allegedly hoodwinked officials by pretending to be mentally challenged but once he is convinced you are a potential buyer, he springs to life to discuss the terms. When this news crew initially tried to interview him he pretended to be deaf and dumb until he was convinced the reporters were prospective buyers that is when he began to negotiate for prices.

“My prices are not fixed, it depends on how much profit you make from 10kg of dried meat, but for today if you are interested in the meat you can take it for free because I am only left with this one that was burnt by a veld fire,” he said pointing to the meat hung to dry on the shrubs.

Mr Ndebele revealed he was now supplying a buyer from Nkayi in bulk who he said was selling to small scale mines in the area ( omakorokoza).

“The lady told me she has a restaurant in Nkayi, I am not sure where but she comes every week to buy the dog meat in bulk.”

Mr Ndebele said some of his buyers were also big people in the city who come driving in latest cars. He, however, bemoaned constant “harassment” by the police.

“My business is being affected by police officers who keep on raiding me but I will continue selling because this is money for me, I wish they could just understand me because I have no other source of income,” said Mr Ndebele.

It seems it is not only Mr Ndebele who has found that dog meat is in demand. The crew also visited the “dog grave yard” where it found a man who had just finished digging out a dog carcass. He, however, ran away after seeing that he was being photographed. A source who spoke to this newspaper revealed that there were a number of people who came to the dog burial site also to dig out the buried dogs.

“Mr Ndebele is the only one who is actually based at the site, he skins and sells the dogs there but there are a lot of people who usually come here to collect the dogs. One wonders why the SPCA or council does not fence off the area because it is obvious that they are selling this meat somewhere else to unsuspecting residents,” he said.

In August last year, a veterinary surgeon warned people not to eat dog meat as doing so could result in illness or death.

The council senior public relations officer, Mrs Nesisa Mpofu, was also quoted in the local media saying they were working at increasing security at the area to discourage people from eating the dog meat.

When Mr Ndebele was initially arrested for selling the dog meat, a municipal police officer was attacked by three men looking for carcasses at its dump site.