JAKARTA: Indonesia’s capital Jakarta has banned the selling and consumption of dog, cat and bat meat to prevent rabies transmission, the city’s governor announced on Tuesday, in a win for animal rights advocates.
“I have signed the regulation... which prohibits the sale of rabies-transmitting animals for food purposes,” Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung said in a statement on social media, a month after promising to do so.
The regulation, which Pramono said he signed on Monday, provides a six-month grace period before it is enforced, according to a document seen by AFP.
Violators could face sanctions, ranging from written warnings to revoking business licenses. The governor said the ban applies to “live animals, meat, or other products, either raw or processed”, and prohibits any “activities related to... rabies-transmitting animals intended for food purposes”.
Indonesia is one of a handful of countries that permit the sale of dog and cat meat, but a campaign against the practice has gained ground, with some cities imposing local bans on the trade in recent years.
Animal rights activists hailed the Jakarta ban as a step in the right direction.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.