Stopping dog meat sales in Indonesia is more about shuffling paperwork than morality
Dog meat consumption in Indonesia sits at the intersection of cultural food traditions, public health challenges, animal welfare concerns, and political risk. Unlike many mainstream livestock animals, dogs are increasingly recognised as companions in urban households, service roles, and community protection efforts across Indonesia. This evolving social perception has built momentum for legal intervention, particularly as rabies remains a deadly risk in several regions.
Although national legislation has yet to impose a blanket prohibition on dog meat consumption, especially in rural areas, provinces and cities are now accelerating local frameworks to restrict its trade and processing. The capital, Jakarta, has become a focal point of this regulatory shift, influencing discourse in neighbouring provinces and reigniting long-dormant legislative discussions.
Jakarta legalises ban, establishing a major precedent
Jakarta introduced a binding provincial rule in late 2025 that outlaws the trade and slaughter of animals categorised as carriers of rabies for food-related purposes. The Jakarta Governor, Pramono Anung, became a central figure in the rollout by confirming the regulation’s operational date as November 24, which was publicly shared via his Instagram channel, MerahPutih.com reports. This regulatory milestone positions dog and cat meat sales as formally unlawful in Jakarta. The policy’s intention was framed as a safeguard for public health, sanitation, and zoonotic disease prevention, rather than an assessment of cultural dietary customs.
The newly enacted rule, numbered 36/2025, extends beyond household pets to include a larger group of rabies-transmitting species such as monkeys, bats, civets, and similar animals, explicitly banning them from market circulation for dietary uses. The regulation establishes clear supply-side restrictions, making the sale of live dogs, raw meat, or processed food products from rabies-transmitting animals illegal if directed for consumption. Markets under Jakarta governance are now expected to adhere to these health classifications when selling or slaughtering animals.
The Jakarta food marketplace operator, Pasar Jaya, had previously confirmed that dog meat sellers operated within parts of Jakarta, including at Pasar Senen, which motivated regulatory tightening and enforcement commitments from the provincial leadership.
To ensure compliance, the ban includes escalating administrative penalties. For initial breaches, authorities are expected to issue written cautions and temporarily confiscate rabies-transmitting animals for disease monitoring, especially where symptoms such as rabies are detected. Repeat offences allow the government to seize animals again, close businesses, or remove trading permits entirely. The ban, according to the governor, completed a campaign promise to activists advocating for domestic animal protection and stricter consumer health measures, Antaranews reports.
Jakarta legislator Hardiyanto Kenneth emphasises sustained advocacy by animal welfare communities, veterinarians, and activists, Tempo.co reports. He highlighted the governor’s political resolve in establishing firm legal controls despite the complexity of navigating culturally sensitive consumption habits. Kenneth underscored that activists had pushed for years to solidify Jakarta’s regulation against dog and cat meat trading. He further cited resident concern over rabies spread, calling the issue a public health imperative rather than a symbolic cultural revision.
Kenneth also reinforced legislative backing for enforcement oversight, urging Jakarta’s Dinas Ketahanan Pangan, Kelautan dan Pertanian Provinsi DKI Jakarta to coordinate monitoring, conduct routine checks, and deliver firm administrative enforcement when necessary. He stressed that the rule protects citizens from rabies, a serious zoonotic disease risk that public institutions must prioritise. This marked Jakarta’s political transition toward building a humane and modernised livestock health governance model, grounded in consumer protection and portable to possible future national frameworks.
Additionally, Kenneth applauded Pramono’s campaign fulfilment, recognising it as a milestone in Jakarta’s urban development narrative, with potential influence across provinces wrestling with enforcement gaps. He urged exporters and local traders to ignore the rule to be held accountable through multi-agency operations and licencing oversight.
Antaranews also documented Pramono’s regulatory endorsement, reiterating that rule 36/2025 shuts supply routes permitting dog meat distribution for consumption in Jakarta.
Bantul at the heart of controversy and enforcement barriers
Just outside Jakarta’s regulatory lens, however, a viral video circulated in late 2025 showing dogs packed into sacks in an alleged dog meat supply chain in Bantul, Yogyakarta, sparking public outrage and new regional commitments, detiknews reports. Gubernur Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta, Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X responded by confirming that new regulatory reinforcement was being prepared to restrict the dog meat trade. He noted that local authorities had been unable to act due to the absence of enforceable trading laws prohibiting dog meat consumption.
Although the DIY administration had previously distributed a regional circular in 2023 to control the distribution of rabies-transmitting animals for food purposes, he publicly acknowledged that the circular lacked sufficient enforcement weight.
Sultan proposed strengthening the circular into a governor decree, elevating the administrative enforceability of dog meat restrictions across districts and cities, which may require consultation with regencies and municipalities. This gap between administrative intent and enforcement authority has been a repeated theme in the national dog meat discourse, illustrating how regulatory escalation often encounters friction in the informal trading economy.
Sultan’s announcement followed police inspections led by AKP I Nengah Jeffry who verified the location of dog meat processing stalls in Bantul at Kapanewon Bambanglipuro where authorities recorded five active food stalls selling dog meat products. Jeffry confirmed that police had inspected the viral video site but found no animals being traded at the time, although processed dog meat sales were occurring. However, due to the absence of enforceable trading prohibition laws, police actions remained advisory in nature, focusing on outreach rather than obstruction. Local enforcement lacked regulatory authority to issue legal penalties, as Indonesia’s penal code currently sanctions animal abuse but does not prohibit consuming dog meat itself.
Legislature begins drafting fundamental food safety law
The legislative body in DIY has restarted regulatory drafting to supply the province’s first framework governing all animal-sourced food safety controls, including animal health conditions, slaughtering standards, and processed meat quality oversight. The proposal, named Pemberian Jaminan Keamanan Pangan dan Mutu Pangan Asal Hewan, is only in initial stages. The head of DIY legal drafting committee Yuni Satia Rahayu confirmed that the policy remains in early academic drafting, requiring comprehensive supporting research before the legislative process advances, HarianJogja reports.
Rahayu explained that the proposal aims to govern the health and safety controls for all animal-derived food products in the province, including mainstream livestock, non-mainstream meat, and rabies-transmitting species such as dogs. The proposal will form the province’s first consolidated foundation for animal-sourced food safety governance, establishing public inspection authority, legal penalties, oversight mechanisms, and trader compliance education. She also confirmed that when passed, the regulation may introduce surveillance pathways, compliance support, and penalties for breaches involving illegal or unsafe meat trade.
Human rights, religious freedom
In one of the most sensitive and related controversies in late 2025, national ministry Kementerian Imigrasi dan Pemasyarakatan confirmed that authorities had opened investigative proceedings to examine an allegation that a correctional facility administrator coerced Muslim detainees to eat dog meat, a dietary violation under Islamic law. The facility administrator under scrutiny, Chandra Sudarto, remains under internal review, with sanctions promised if coercion is proven. This allegation was released publicly by Indonesia’s national parliament member Mafirion, who argued that regardless of detainee status, religious freedom and dietary boundaries remain protected rights under human rights frameworks.
Mafirion demanded administrative suspension and law enforcement progression to restrict social polarisation around the matter. The ministry spokesperson Rika Aprianti confirmed formal provincial verification had been initiated, promising administrative action if abuse or coercion is evident, CNBC Indonesia reports.
From local experiment to national implications
As is, Jakarta’s binding rule creates Indonesia’s most substantial experiment in stopping the dog meat trade by using a public health classification strategy, targeting supply channels rather than cultural beliefs. Bantul, lacking enforceable laws, reveals the compliance risk that may redirect trade rather than reduce it. DIY legislature, now drafting the region’s first animal-sourced food safety regulation, reflects how local controversy has revived legal prioritisation.
What happens next will not be decided only in government offices. Tracking supply routes, educating consumers, supporting traders in transition, expanding rabies prevention, and unifying veterinary inspection standards will determine whether regulations sustainably reshape behaviour or reorganise the contours of informal trade in man's best friend.
