First-ever round table event at the Parliament Palace on humane stray dog population management
Humane Society International / Europe
Ioana Cristiana
BUCHAREST, Romania—Humane Society International/Europe and the Ilfov County Council’s Animal Protection Department hosted a groundbreaking debate titled “Efficiently and Humanely: How to Properly Manage Animal-Human Issues” at the Palace of Parliament. This first-of-its-kind event in Romania brought together over 80 participants, including mayors, county council presidents from 24 municipalities and 10 counties, as well as parliamentarians committed to finding humane, sustainable animal welfare solutions.
The debate marks an important milestone in HSI/Europe’s broader initiative to support local authorities in implementing compassionate and effective dog population management strategies. While figures are rough (without any official count), across Romania, it is estimated that there are between 500,000 and 1,000,000 stray dogs on the streets. Many suffer from malnutrition, disease, while others, housed in shelters, are sadly euthanized if unclaimed.
In 2024, HSI/Europe launched a strategic partnership with the Ilfov County Council’s Animal Protection Department, recognizing the agency’s innovative, holistic approach to animal welfare and dog management. This collaboration began in September with a comprehensive program offering free veterinary services—including spay/neuter surgeries, vaccinations, de-worming, and first aid—for dogs and cats in Ilfov County. These services, delivered by HSI/Europe through collaboration with veterinary teams, such as WAVE and Nomad Vet, target areas with significant animal welfare challenges, such as disadvantaged communities, industrial zones, and former military sites.
Data-Driven, Humane Approaches
During the event, HSI was represented by Dr. Amit Chaudhari, director of Monitoring, Evaluation, and Impact Analysis, Humane Society International/India; Kerry Zaleski, director of Companion Animals and Engagement, HSI; and Andreea Roseti, country director for HSI/Europe in Romania.
“There is no true animal welfare without compassion for people,” said Roseti. “Stray animals often originate from someone’s backyard, reflecting a failure in responsibility and resources. Humane solutions require tailored interventions, informed by ongoing data and analysis. Together with the Ilfov County Council team and our colleagues from North America, we’ve been collecting data to design and implement the most effective pet management programs possible.”
Dr. Chaudhari also shared insights from a pilot census conducted in 14 localities in Ilfov County, underscoring the importance of data-driven, long-term planning to address stray dog populations effectively.
Empowering Local Authorities
The Ilfov County Council’s Animal Protection Department showcased its ongoing dog welfare projects and provided participants with practical tools for implementation. Attendees received resources, including templates and legal frameworks, enabling other municipalities to adopt similar models.
“The issue of stray animals is as much about people as it is about animals,” said Hilde Tudora, Director of Animal Protection at Ilfov County Council. “While laws allow us to fund sterilization for owned dogs, the larger issue lies with stray animals. Through partnerships with NGOs, we’ve developed solutions that go beyond what legislation permits. At the event, we distributed USB drives with detailed documentation to make it easier for other authorities to replicate our programs and adapt them to their regions.”
A Path Forward
The roundtable highlighted the critical role of collaboration and innovative thinking in improving living conditions for both people and animals. With the active engagement of local authorities and the support of organizations like HSI/Europe, Romania is taking significant steps toward a more compassionate approach to animal welfare.
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Media Contact: Raluca Simion: commsromania@hsi.org
Humane Society International/Latin America pilot project seeks to help a community become more animal-friendly
Humane Society International / Latin America
HSI
TORTUGUERO, Costa Rica—Humane Society International/Latin America recently provided free veterinary care to dozens of dogs and cats in Tortuguero, a small but much visited community in northeastern Costa Rica situated on the country’s Caribbean coast in proximity to an ecologically sensitive national park. The examinations and treatments were carried out as part of an initiative intended to strengthen Tortuguero’s status as an animal-friendly community.
Over two days, 63 pets including 44 dogs and 19 cats, received essential veterinary services including examinations, vaccinations, deworming and microchipping. This included 24 animals from the neighboring community of San Francisco, who were brought to the clinic by boat.
According to Andrea Borel, executive director of HSI/Latin America, the event marked the last activity of the year in Tortuguero under a pilot project aimed at empowering the community to become more animal-friendly. “Excellent results were achieved in both animal health campaigns, as well as in the other approaches taken throughout the year, mainly due to the high level of commitment from the community and the work of our ‘Animal Ambassadors,’ local individuals committed to leading animal welfare initiatives and helping make them sustainable over time,” Borel said.
Ahead of the event, the community’s Animal Ambassadors learned how to recognize stress in pets and take steps to create a calm, positive environment. One Ambassador, Scarleth Centeno, highlighted the impact: “Both campaigns ran smoothly and were well-organized, with minimal stress for the animals. The techniques we learned helped us identify and address any signs of discomfort, ensuring the dogs and cats felt safe and supported.”
The veterinary care services were complemented by educational sessions for community members on interactions between domestic pets and local wildlife. Tortuguero is uniquely situated near a national park that is home to diverse species, including sea turtles and jaguars, making responsible pet ownership critical to protecting both pets and wildlife.
HSI/Latin America developed the initiative in close collaboration with the National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC–MINAE), the Tortuguero National Park, the National Animal Health Service (SENASA), the School of Veterinary Medicine of the National University, the National Commission for Biodiversity Management (CONAGEBIO-MINAE), ASVO Costa Rica, Narime Foundation, Tortuguero Environmental Committee, and Sea Turtle Conservancy, among other parties.
AGUASCALIENTES, Mexico—Humane Society International/Mexico, in partnership with the Centro de Ciencias Agropecuarias at the Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes (UAA), recently completed a pioneering spay/neuter training program for 14 government veterinarians in Aguascalientes. This hands-on program, the first of its kind in Mexico, was designed to equip veterinary professionals with the advanced surgical skills needed for high-volume sterilization campaigns across the state.
As part of a pilot program under the train-the-trainer model, three UAA veterinarians received training at HSI’s top-tier veterinary training center in La Paz, Bolivia. After an intensive three-week course, they gained the skills necessary to become trainers themselves. The trainees, who are part of government agencies already conducting large-scale spay/neuter campaigns, included 10 veterinarians from the ISSEA (Aguascalientes Health Department), two from the city’s Canine Control Center, and two from PROESPA (the Aguascalientes Environmental Agency). This initiative aims to enhance surgical skills and provide additional tools for local veterinary teams to perform humane and efficient spay/neuter surgeries.
Bárbara Morales, companion animals and engagement manager at HSI Mexico and program leader in Aguascalientes, highlighted the significance of this initiative: “This training marks a major step forward in our efforts to control companion animal populations in Aguascalientes. By building local capacity in high-quality, high-volume sterilization procedures, we are making a lasting impact on animal welfare and public health.”
The course blended theory and practice, incorporating international best practices to ensure trainees gained the skills needed for safe and effective sterilization campaigns. In late November, the UAA-trained veterinarians participated in feedback sessions led by the Bolivian trainers who initially trained them.
The Bolivian team’s feedback provided valuable insights to help improve the program for future trainings. This collaboration exemplifies the ongoing partnership between Latin American countries facing similar companion animal welfare challenges.
Dr. Claudia Edwards, program director at HSI Mexico, emphasized the long-term benefits: “Spay/neuter surgeries are crucial for reducing the overpopulation of dogs and cats and preventing the suffering of stray animals. This training improves animal health and welfare, strengthens the human-animal bond, reduces the burden on shelters, and helps lower the number of animals surrendered to the Canine Control Center.”
HSI’s Latin America Veterinary Training Program, launched in 2014, has trained over 300 veterinarians across the region, focusing on humane, high-volume, low-cost sterilization techniques. The program’s mission is to enhance the human-animal bond by providing veterinarians and veterinary technicians with the skills needed to perform safe and effective spay/neuter surgeries, thereby reducing the population of unwanted animals and contributing to healthier communities.
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica—This month, Humane Society International/Latin America provided advanced training to Costa Rican government authorities and other animal welfare institutions to enhance their capacity to combat illegal dog fighting and cockfighting. The two-day educational session engaged more than 50 representatives from Costa Rican agencies and organizations including, but not limited to, the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) and the National Animal Health Service (SENASA).
The training addressed issues such as the link between animal cruelty and human violence; the regulatory framework concerning animal fighting in Costa Rica, and the connection of animal fighting to other illegal activities, such as drug trafficking and organized crime. Other specialized training covered investigative techniques and evidence gathering for cases involving organized dog fights and cockfights.
Andrea Borel, executive director of HSI/Latin America, said: “With this training, we are pleased to empower local authorities to investigate and prosecute these illegal and cruel instances of animal fighting in Costa Rica. Abusing animals for human entertainment has no place in our society.”
Cockfighting is a bloody practice in which two or more birds bred specifically for fighting are placed in a ring or “cockpit” for the sole purpose of fighting for human entertainment and gambling. Dogfighting is also an illegal and extremely cruel activity, in which dogs are bred, conditioned and trained to fight for the same purposes.
These fights usually result in the death of one or both animals involved. Those animals who do not die suffer terribly from their injuries and from not receiving treatment. Dogs are sometimes killed by their owners via the most horrible methods. Both types of animal fights often co-occur with other illegal activities, including drug, arms and human trafficking.
In Costa Rica, the Penal Code (Article 279) punishes, with sentences of three months to one year in prison, anyone who organizes, encourages or carries out fights between animals of any species, without exceptions in the national territory.
Owner Mr. Cuong will start a gas cylinder supply business with support from Humane Society International
Humane Society International
Nhan Tran/AP Images for HSI
DONG NAI, Viet Nam—A dog meat restaurant and slaughterhouse in the Trang Bom district of Viet Nam’s Dong Nai province has closed after 20 years as part of the Models for Change program by animal protection charity Humane Society International. Launched in Viet Nam in 2022, the program helps people transition out of the cruel and dangerous dog and cat meat trade to tackle animal cruelty and rabies transmission in partnership with Dong Nai’s Department of Livestock, Animal Health and Fishery. Forty-year-old owner Mr. Dao Van Cuong plans to set up a business selling paint and subsequently also supplying household gas cylinders to local residents with a one-off startup grant from HSI.
Dong Nai province, situated in the south of Viet Nam and bordering Ho Chi Minh City, has around 500 restaurants serving both dog and cat meat. It is also a trafficking route for dogs headed for slaughter in the north of the country. HSI began working in the province at the request of city officials and to date HSI has supported rabies education activities for children, trained government veterinarians in spay/neuter techniques and conducted rabies prevention workshops throughout Dong Nai.
Phuong Tham, Humane Society International’s Viet Nam country director, said: “Here in Dong Nai and in Thai Nguyen we are proud to be helping the government achieve its goal of eliminating human rabies deaths from dog interactions by 2030, including by addressing the dog meat trade. Viet Nam cannot hope to eliminate rabies and meet that 2030 target without tackling this trade. We hope our Vietnamese Models for Change program will become a key component of Viet Nam’s strategy to provide alternative, economically viable livelihoods for those like Mr. Cuong who are dependent on the trade, and that the program will serve as a practical complement to legislative and regulatory reform.”
For more than two decades, the restaurant and slaughterhouse now run by Mr. Cuong has received shipments of thousands of dogs from across the country, who have been killed and served for human consumption. Across the province, live dogs are delivered to facilities like this, tightly packed in cages on trucks driving for hours from neighbouring Mekong Delta province. Many dogs are also supplied by local traders collecting dogs via motorbike from nearby residents who sell their pets or breed puppies for the meat trade. Mr. Cuong took over the business nine years ago but the guilt and stress he felt from killing dogs contributed to his decision to leave the dog meat trade once and for all and switch to an alternative livelihood.
Mr. Cuong said: “For nine years I’ve killed dogs and chickens, butchered them and served them to my customers. The money is okay but this work doesn’t make me happy at all. I don’t want to kill these animals anymore, it makes me feel bad. Selling paint and gas cylinders to local residents will be a much more peaceful business. I’m looking forward to a business where I have a clear conscience and I am not involved in slaughtering dogs. I couldn’t have made this move without the support of HSI’s Models for Change program and the Dong Nai authorities, so I’m grateful for all their support.”
On Mr. Cuong’s final day of business, HSI rescued the last remaining 16 dogs who were found cowering in cages at the back of the restaurant. HSI moved them to a temporary facility where they are receiving veterinary care—including neutering and vaccination against rabies and distemper—and will be assessed for local adoption. Many of the dogs have matted fur, skin conditions and infected eyes.
HSI’s Tham said: “These dogs were clearly terrified when we found them. They’ve been through an ordeal and came close to death for the dog meat trade, but thankfully we got them out just in time. For these dogs, the dog meat trade is over and no more dogs will ever suffer and die at this facility again. But for the millions of other dogs for whom the suffering continues across Viet Nam, and the millions of citizens whose health is put at risk from the spread of rabies and other diseases, we will continue to campaign to end this cruel and dangerous trade.
Following the rescue, HSI’s Viet Nam team held a round table meeting with Department of Animal Health officials from both Dong Nai and Thai Nguyen provinces at which provincial leaders agreed to propose a directive to their respective provincial People’s Council to ensure the strong enforcement of laws and regulations on rabies and cross provincial animal transport and slaughter, that would make it more difficult for the dog and cat meat trades to operate.
Rabies kills more than 70 people in Viet Nam each year, according to the World Health Organization, with almost all cases caused by dog bites, including verified cases and data from Viet Nam’s National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology showing human infection after killing, butchering or eating dogs. International organizations, including the World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Organization for Animal Health and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have set the goal to eliminate dog-mediated human rabies by 2030, with Viet Nam being one of the key target regions for achieving this milestone. Tackling the dog meat trade in Viet Nam is key to eliminating rabies.
Mr Nguyen Truong Giang, director of Dong Nai Provincial Department of Livestock Production and Animals Health, said: “When it comes to tackling rabies, we must address every way in which this disease is spread in Viet Nam. It’s clear that the dog meat trade contributes to the spread of the virus, which is why we are pleased to be working with HSI’s Models for Change program to help dog and cat meat trade workers transition to better and safer livelihoods for themselves and their community.”
Dog meat facts:
Viet Nam’s dog meat trade is largely supplied through snatching dogs from the streets or stealing pets from private homes. Traders frequently use poison bait such as meatballs laced with cyanide, and catch the dogs using painful taser guns and pincers.
Traders also go village to village to purchase dogs from rural communities that occasionally sell “excess” dogs for extra income.
For long distance transport, dogs are tightly packed into small cages and driven for hours or even days without food and water, many sustaining injuries as well as enduring exhaustion, dehydration, suffocation, heatstroke and even death to reach a slaughterhouse, market or restaurant.
The sale and consumption of dog meat is not illegal in Viet Nam, but the unregulated trans-provincial movement of dogs has been illegal since 2009, and pet theft was made a punishable offence in 2016. While several cities including Hanoi and Hoi An have pledged to end the trade, enforcement of laws is rare and trucks continue to openly transport hundreds of dogs at a time on national highways.
Most people in Viet Nam don’t eat dog meat. An Aug./Sept. 2023 Nielsen opinion poll commissioned by HSI found that around one quarter of the population (24%) had consumed dog meat (thịt chó) in the last year, with 64% and 68% of respondents respectively supporting a ban on dog meat consumption and trade. A belief by some consumers persists—despite no scientific evidence—that dog meat has medicinal properties and can increase male virility.
HSI’s Models for Change program came to Viet Nam in 2022 after successfully operating in South Korea since 2015, where the HSI has closed down 18 dog meat farms, rescuing more than 2,500 dogs and helping dog farmers transition to more sustainable livelihoods such as chili or water parsley growing.
Media contact: Wendy Higgins, director of international media: whiggins@hsi.org
Mexico’s Constitution is one step closer to enshrining animal protection, granting Congress to enact animal welfare laws, and mandating humane education in schools
Humane Society International / Mexico
Victoria Razo/AP Images for HSI
Update (11/26/24): 17 State Congresses have approved this historic amendment, which means the bill has passed, since it had already been approved by the Senate and Chamber of Deputies.
MEXICO CITY—Humane Society International/Mexico celebrates a landmark victory for animal protection in Mexico as the Chamber of Deputies officially approved a constitutional reform on animal welfare. This historic reform would, for the first time, enshrine animal welfare in Mexico’s Constitution, strengthening the nation’s commitment to protecting animals from cruelty and neglect.
The constitutional amendment introduces significant changes to articles 3, 4 and 73, formally enshrining animal protection and empowering Congress to legislate on animal welfare. The reform also establishes humane education as a mandatory guideline in all educational institutions nationwide. By granting animal protection the highest importance in Mexico’s legal framework, the reform safeguards the legal protection granted to animals from being easily undone by future legislation. As the Constitution defines a nation’s most important values and ideals, this constitutional reform serves as a strong symbol of a growing societal shift towards empathetic and caring attitudes with regards to animals, positioning Mexico as a leader in animal welfare legislation.
Anton Aguilar, executive director at HSI/Mexico, stated: “This is a historic moment for animal protection in Mexico that sets a powerful precedent for future generations. With this constitutional reform, the government has taken a significant step toward ensuring that the protection and welfare of animals become a priority in public policy. This landmark constitutional reform has the power to transform the lives of millions of animals—from street dogs and cats enduring cruelty, disease and neglect, to the billions of farmed animals exploited for food, and the countless wildlife threatened by illegal trade. On behalf of these animals, we are grateful to the Chamber of Deputies and the countless advocates who have fought for this reform, and we look forward to seeing this bill passed in the Senate shortly.”
HSI/Mexico has advocated for this reform, together with civil society organizations including Igualdad Animal and Movimiento Conciencia, by reaching out to legislators and mobilizing public support through online petitions in English and Spanish that gathered tens of thousands of signatures. The new President of Mexico, Dr. Claudia Sheinbaum, announced on her first day in office that she would prioritize passing this bill as one of the 100 top commitments of her administration. Today this promise is much closer to being fulfilled, pending approval by the Senate and two-thirds of the State legislatures, as required for constitutional amendments. HSI/Mexico will continue working alongside the government to ensure these new protections are effectively adopted, implemented and enforced.
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Media contact: Magaly Garibay: +52 5538762199; mgaribay@idee.agency
Oaxaca was the last state in the country lacking such legislation
Humane Society International / Mexico
HSI
OAXACA, Mexico—Today, the state of Oaxaca passed its first animal protection bill. The new law recognizes animals as sentient beings, sets provisions to prevent and ban animal cruelty and abuse in its various forms, establishes responsible pet ownership as an educational guideline in public schools and mandates spay-neuter campaigns for companion animals across the state.
For several years now, HSI/Mexico has provided advice during the legislative process to improve the bill’s language, joined academic and regulatory discussions hosted by Oaxaca’s Autonomous University and the state’s Veterinary Association, and helped facilitate dialogue with interested parties. HSI will continue to assist authorities with implementation of the bill through trainings and conferences.
Dr. Claudia Edwards, program director for HSI/Mexico, said: “It is inspiring to see that, with political will, open dialogue between all interest holders, and the technical guidance of veterinarians, Oaxaca now has a law that not only protects animals but also safeguards their welfare and recognizes them as sentient beings. Congratulations to this legislature—and in particular Congresswoman Melina Hernández—for making this significant step toward a more compassionate and humane society.”
Campaigners urge newly elected President Prabowo to end the cruel and dangerous trades
Humane Society International
Garry Lotulung/AP Images for HSI
JAKARTA, Indonesia—Lawyers from the Dog Meat Free Indonesia coalition have submitted three legislative proposals to the House of Representatives to transform companion animal protection in Indonesia, including a ban on the cruel dog and cat meat trades. If passed, these would be Indonesia’s first ever laws dedicated to the protection of companion animals, and would make Indonesia the sixth nation in Asia to explicitly ban the dog and cat meat trades.
The draft laws were officially handed to Dr. Bob Hasan S.H., M.H., Head of Legislation, along with an open letter to newly elected President Prabowo on behalf of DMFI supporters from around the world urging him to take decisive action to end the trades.
DMFI—a coalition comprising national and international animal protection organizations Jakarta Animal Aid Network, Animal Friends Jogja, Humane Society International, Animals Asia and FOUR PAWS—has campaigned for an end to the dog and cat meat trades for years, conducting numerous shocking investigations into Indonesia’s underworld network of dog and cat thieves, traffickers, traders and slaughterers. As a result of DMFI campaigns, more than 70 cities, regencies and provinces ―including the Special Capital Region of Jakarta—have introduced directives and regulations to prohibit the trades. Despite this, there is no national ban in place, without which effective enforcement remains a challenge.
These groundbreaking proposals seek to significantly strengthen Indonesia’s national laws which currently are too weak to afford animals the legal protection they need from abuse and neglect. The three draft national legislative regulations comprise a national companion animal protection law, a government regulation to ban the dog and cat meat trades and a Presidential regulation to establish a taskforce to tackle deadly rabies. Combined, these would not only broaden the scope of what constitutes animal cruelty, abuse and neglect, but would also ensure penalties in line with the amended Criminal Code of 10-50 million IDR and up to 18 months in prison.
Karin Franken, DMFI national coordinator, said: “These historic legislative proposals provide a vital opportunity for Indonesia to eliminate the brutal and dangerous dog and cat meat trades once and for all, safeguarding the welfare of both people and animals. More than a million dogs and cats every year are stolen, trafficked and killed for meat in a trade that directly jeopardizes the health of the nation’s citizens. These animals endure grueling journeys, heatstroke, dehydration and disease, only to be bludgeoned, blowtorched and killed for a meat that virtually no-one in Indonesia eats.”
Lola Webber, DMFI international coordinator, added: “The cruel dog and cat meat trades also represent an unacceptable risk to human health and jeopardize Indonesia’s commitment to the Global Target of ‘Zero Deaths Due to Rabies’ by 2030. The dog meat trade and efforts to eliminate rabies are totally incompatible, given that the dog meat trade encourages the mass movement of dogs of unknown disease and vaccination status across provincial borders, disrupting canine vaccination efforts and facilitating the transmission of the deadly disease. The dog meat trade operates in breach of canine rabies elimination recommendations by all leading human and animal health experts and there is quantitative and qualitative evidence from throughout the region highlighting the risk these trades pose to public health. With rabies still endemic in 26 provinces nationwide, these are extraordinarily compelling reasons why we urge the parliament and President Prabowo to support the passage of these regulations and make Indonesia the next nation in Asia to ban the dog and cat meat trades.”
The three draft regulations explained:
National Law on the Elimination of Violence Against Companion Animals: This would criminalize a broad array of cruel acts including torture, neglect, electrocution, poisoning, cruel chaining or confinement, as well as physical and sexual abuse (bestiality). It would also enshrine in law the principles of responsible pet guardianship as well as establish an animal welfare committee to, among other things, advise on the formulation and implementation of animal welfare laws. This law also Includes prohibitions on all aspects of the dog and cat meat trades including stealing, catching, breeding, trafficking, selling or slaughtering dogs and cats for human consumption as well as selling dog and cat meat for such purposes.
Government Regulation on the Nationwide Ban on Dog and Cat Meat Trades: This would be Indonesia’s first ever nationwide law banning the dog and cat meat trades for both commercial and non-commercial purposes. Under this law it would become illegal to catch, transport or slaughter dogs and cats for consumption and to store, pack, process, distribute or sell their meat either through traditional or electronic markets.
Presidential Regulation on the creation of anti-rabies-transmitting animal meat trade: In recognition that rabies is a priority zoonotic disease endemic in 26 Indonesian provinces, with clearly established links to the dog meat trade, this law would support Indonesia’s One Health Roadmap to eliminate the disease in humans nationwide by 2030 by establishing a legal taskforce to work with law enforcement agencies to directly tackle the dog and cat meat trades. The taskforce would be empowered to carry out inspections and investigations and to advance enforcement and legal prosecutions in cases of infringements.
A Nielsen opinion poll in January 2021, commissioned by DMFI, revealed that 93% of Indonesians support a national dog meat ban with fewer than 5% having ever consumed dog meat and 88% agreeing that the issues of the dog meat trade and consumption of dog meat need to be addressed immediately by all political parties.
Across Asia the trade in and slaughter, sale and consumption of dogs and cats is explicitly banned in Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Thailand and South Korea (coming into force 2027). In other countries such as Singapore and Malaysia, while there are no explicit bans, the trade is essentially prohibited under existing animal welfare, animal cruelty and animal or food hygiene laws. In addition, the trades are banned in two major cities in mainland China (Shenzhen and Zuhai) and the city of Siem Reap in Cambodia. If passed into law, the proposed regulations would make Indonesia the sixth nation or territory in Asia to explicitly ban the trades.
Now that the regulations have been submitted to Parliament, a period of review and discussion will take place later this month to decide if the national law is approved for inclusion in the national legislative program. If approved, and following a public hearing, a dog and cat meat trades ban could be in place within five years. The government regulation would then be created no later than two years afterwards as an implementing regulation of that new national law. President Prabowo himself has full discretion to ratify the Presidential regulation at any time following discussion with the Parliament.
MEXICO CITY—Dia de Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a cherished Mexican tradition that celebrates and honors the lives of loved ones who have passed. HSI/Mexico recognizes the importance of extending this tradition to include the remembrance of animals, who in their own right are often treated as cherished members of our families and communities.
The traditional ofrendas, or altars, take place every year at the museum and cultural house Casa Fuerte del Indio Fernández. This iconic house belonged to the well-known Mexican film actor Emilio “El Indio Fernandez” who reportedly posed for the iconic Oscar statuette of the Academy Award of Merit.
This year, visitors will be able to pay their respects, reflect on the important role animals play in our lives and learn about HSI/Mexico’s dedication to animal welfare. The ofrenda is also an opportunity to share plant-based recipes that people can prepare in honor of their lost loved ones, based on Mexico’s rich culinary tradition.
It is also an opportunity to highlight HSI/Mexico’s recent activities, including helping thousands of animals in response to the devastation caused by hurricanes Otis and John in Guerrero, as well as advancing an amendment to enshrine animal protection in the federal constitution, and highlighting the launch of a new pilot project in Aguascalientes to provide vet care and humane education in underserved communities.
Pamela Reséndiz, HSI/Mexico food and nutrition manager, said: “Ofrendas are a key part of Dia de Muertos, providing an opportunity to think of your loved ones who have passed. We celebrate their life and the love and joy they brought and keep bringing us. Instead of this being a sad holiday, it’s actually a very nice way to celebrate them, and keep their memory alive.”
Visitors will have the opportunity to include the names of their companion animals to be a part of this important homage and celebrate the love towards these important family members during this holiday.
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Media contact: Magaly Garibay: +52 5538762199: mgaribay@idee.agency
Humane Society International / South Korea
HSI
SEOUL—As South Korea’s government today published its much-anticipated Basic Plan for the phase out of the dog meat industry, animal campaigners at Humane Society International/Korea have welcomed it as an “important milestone in this historic plan” and called on other countries across Asia to follow suit. However, more action is needed to prevent unnecessary dog suffering, says HSI/Korea.
Sangkyung Lee, HSI/Korea’s end dog meat campaign manager, made the following statement:
“Publication of the government’s Basic Plan to phase out South Korea’s dog meat industry marks an important milestone in this historic ban that will see it through to completion and end our country’s dog meat era for good. We hope that other countries across Asia where the dog meat trade persists despite public opposition will follow South Korea’s lead so that our Special Act and Basic Plan can be the catalyst for similar compassionate action around the world. HSI/Korea stands ready to further advise the government on dog welfare, and to rescue dogs where we can so that innocent victims of this brutal dog meat industry have a chance of a happy life.”
Regarding the financial support plan for dog meat farmers, HSI/Korea’s Lee said: “We are disappointed that the government’s Basic Plan provides financial support for dog farms based on the number of dogs. While limits are set based on the reported capacity of waste disposal facilities, this approach risks potentially increasing dog breeding with the aim of getting more money from the scheme, with more puppies being born into suffering. This completely goes against the purpose of the special law, risks subjecting even more dogs to unnecessary suffering and could actually make the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs’ job of dog farm population management even harder in the long-term. We urge MAFRA to rethink this idea and switch instead to a fixed financial amount or support package based on each farmer’s transition business plan.”
On the issue of managing the remaining dogs during and after the phase-out period, Lee added: “More urgent discussions are clearly needed about practical steps that must be prioritized to stop puppies being born on farms during the phase out period. The government must actively engage with local governments and animal protection groups like HSI/Korea, to ensure that farmers immediately separate male and female dogs on farms to stop breeding. There is no excuse for even more innocent puppies to be born into this cruel industry precisely at a time when the goal is to end it.”
Facts:
With over 6 million pet dogs now living in Korean homes, demand for dog meat is at an all-time low. A 2023 Nielsen Korea opinion polls shows that 86% of South Koreans won’t eat dog meat in the future and 57% support a ban.
Since 2015, HSI/Korea has helped 18 dog farmers across South Korea switch to growing crops such as chili plants and parsley, or water delivery and other livelihoods as part of its Models for Change program.
South Korea joins a growing list of governments across Asia that have banned the dog meat trade (with varying degrees of enforcement) including Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Philippines, India, Thailand and Singapore, as well as the cities of Shenzhen and Zhuhai in mainland China, Siem Reap province in Cambodia, and more than 60 cities, regencies and provinces in Indonesia.
Click here to view video and photos of HSI/Korea’s dog meat farm closure program. Contact whiggins@hsi.org to download visuals.
