Photo: Kim Chhay/Four Paws
The dog meat trade in Cambodia has taken another serious hit.
Just two weeks after atruck carrying 61 dogs to slaughter was interceptedin the country’s province of Siem Reap, animal rescuers have achieved another major victory: a Cambodian dog slaughterhouse opened in 1995 was shut down on March 4.
According to a release fromFOUR PAWS, which orchestrated the shutdown, the slaughterhouse is likely responsible for over a million dogs' deaths and once boasted about drowning upwards of 200 dogs a day to provide meat for Cambodia’s capital city, Phnom Penh.
As part of the shutdown, FOUR PAWS rescued the 16 dogs found at the slaughterhouse, dismantled the facility’s wire cages, and demolished its drowning tanks.
Kim Chhay/Four Paws
The slaughterhouse’s owner has signed a contract assuring FOUR PAWS and the Cambodian government that he will never work in the dog meat trade again. In return for agreeing to the shutdown, the owner will receive assistance converting the slaughterhouse into a general goods shop and construction company.
All 16 of the dogs rescued from the facility will join the 61 canines saved from the van interception. FOUR PAWS' local partners — Animal Rescue Cambodia in Phnom Penh and Paw Patrol Cambodia in Siem Reap — are currently caring for the 77 animals and preparing them for adoption.
FOUR PAWS is working across Cambodia, Vietnam, and Indonesia to end the dog meat trade in those countries through educational work and cooperation with the authorities and tourism associations. Over the past year, Cambodia has made significant strides to ending the dog meat trade inside its borders, withSiem Reap becoming the first Cambodian province to ban dog meat sales and consumptionin July 2020.
To learn more about FOUR PAWS and their work to save and protect animals worldwide,visit the organization’s website.
source: people.com
