- Agha defies England as Pakistan post 515-8 in first Test
- September second-warmest on record: EU climate monitor
- Pastor wanted by US for sex trafficking to run for Philippine senate
- Mozambican writer Mia Couto dreams future leaders set an 'example'
- German 'Maddie' suspect could be free soon after cleared of separate sex crimes
- China says to take anti-dumping measures against EU brandy imports
- German suspect in 'Maddie' case cleared in separate sex crimes trial
- Israel expands offensive against Hezbollah in south Lebanon
- China stocks rally fizzles on stimulus worries amid Asia retreat
- Bangladesh's Yunus says no elections before reforms
- England strike twice as Pakistan reach 397-6 at lunch in first Test
- China stocks rally peters out on stimulus worries amid Asia retreat
- Taiwan's Foxconn says building world's largest 'superchip' plant
- Kenya's deputy president faces impeachment vote
- N. Korean soldiers 'highly likely' killed in Ukraine: Seoul
- 'Appeals Centre' to referee EU social media disputes
- US Supreme Court to hear 'ghost guns' regulation case
- 'Small' oil leaks detected in Samoa after NZ navy shipwreck
- Nobel literature jury may go for non-Western writer
- At Istanbul church, blessed spring offers hope to Christians and Muslims
- From Bolivia to Indonesia, deforestation continues apace
- Myanmar to send rep to regional summit for first time in three years
- Prabowo set to lead bolder Indonesia on world stage
- Tampa zoo rushes Chompers the porcupine and others to safety as Milton nears
- Shanghai stocks pare early surge on stimulus worries amid Asia retreat
- New Japan PM to hold talks on ASEAN sidelines
- Record number of climbers chase 14-peak dream in Tibet
- Former South Korea clinic for US 'comfort women' to be demolished
- China holds off on fresh stimulus but 'confident' will hit growth target
- Chiefs battle past Saints to stay unbeaten
- Deal on climate aid hangs in balance at UN COP29 summit
- Royals hit back against Yankees, Tigers maul Guardians
- German suspect in 'Maddie' case faces verdict in sex crimes trial
- Top economic official 'confident' China will hit 2024 growth target
- COP29 fight looms over climate funds for developing world
- Shanghai stocks soar to extend stimulus rally amid Asia-wide drop
- Australia moves to expand Antarctic marine park
- Tragedy of Madrid street sweeper highlights how heatwaves kill
- Survivors wait for aid as Trump's lies help cloud Helene response
- Fleeing Israeli bombs, Lebanon's displaced met with suspicion
- Jila Mossaed, from refugee poet to Swedish Academy
- Will Tesla's robotaxi reveal live up to hype?
- Drugs, people smuggling at heart of Mexico's raging violence
- 'Invisibility' and quantum computing tipped for physics Nobel
- Musk says he is 'all in' on Trump in US election
- Category 5 Hurricane Milton roars towards storm-battered Florida
- Carpenter bomb stuns Guardians as Tigers level series
- Harris, Trump and Biden mark Oct. 7 attacks as US election looms
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street falls
- US judge orders Google to open Android to rival app stores
CMSC | -0.53% | 24.57 | $ | |
NGG | -1.56% | 65.48 | $ | |
RIO | -0.11% | 69.62 | $ | |
GSK | -0.49% | 38.63 | $ | |
RBGPF | 100% | 60.52 | $ | |
RYCEF | -0.15% | 6.87 | $ | |
RELX | -0.54% | 46.04 | $ | |
BTI | -0.26% | 35.2 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.09% | 24.79 | $ | |
BCC | 1.68% | 141.27 | $ | |
SCS | -0.15% | 12.95 | $ | |
VOD | 0.31% | 9.69 | $ | |
AZN | -0.78% | 76.87 | $ | |
JRI | -0.76% | 13.18 | $ | |
BCE | -0.54% | 33.53 | $ | |
BP | 0.78% | 33.14 | $ |
'Extreme' Indonesian market ends dog, cat meat trade
A notorious Indonesian animal market has ended the sale of dog and cat meat after years of activist pressure to stop the trade and its brutal methods of slaughter, according to campaigners.
Canine and feline meat were on the menu alongside bats, rats, snakes and monkeys at the Tomohon Extreme Market on Sulawesi island, known for its disturbing culinary spread until a ban was imposed on Friday.
The previously uncompromising bazaar is the first such market in the country to finally back down and stop the trade of cat and dog meat, animal rights group Humane Society International (HSI) said in a statement Friday.
It called the ban a "historic agreement that will spare thousands of animals from being bludgeoned and blowtorched to death for human consumption."
Indonesia remains one of the few countries in the world that still permits the sale of dog and cat meat due to local traditions and culture.
The market's six remaining dog and cat meat traders signed an agreement to stop the sale, and the mayor of Tomohon city signed into law a ban on future trade at the market, the group said in a statement.
"The impact will be far-reaching, shutting down business for the traders' vast network of traffickers, dog thieves and slaughterers," Lola Webber, HSI's director of campaigns to end the dog meat trade, said.
"We hope this unprecedented agreement will set the standard."
The rights group said the agreement has potentially saved the lives of thousands of pups on the island, where as many as 130,000 are slaughtered annually.
The market had courted widespread criticism from activists for the methods used to slaughter animals, such as beatings, hangings and blowtorching of fur while they were still alive.
Those calls ramped up after the first cluster of the coronavirus outbreak in 2020 was linked to a wet market in the Chinese city of Wuhan, stoking fears elsewhere that viruses were jumping from animals to humans.
HSI and Indonesian rights groups are also trying to stop the trade to prevent the spread of the deadly rabies virus.
Elvianus Pongoh, one of the sellers at Tomohon for 25 years, said the time was right to end the trade.
"I have probably slaughtered thousands of dogs. Every now and then I would see the fear in their eyes... as I came for them, and it made me feel bad," he said in the HSI press release.
"I know this ban is best for the animals and also best to protect the public."
F.Dubois--AMWN