'Milestone' in battle against the sale of dog meat
SPCA makes its position clear
“We are advocates that dogs are friends and not food. This newly found legal support strengthens our position.”This is what the Justice for Animals Trust said in a media statement yesterday after they found a notice issued in July 1972 in terms of the Animal Protection Act no. 71 of 1962 was issued.
This notice stipulates that any person who kills a dog with the intention of using the skin, meat or any other part of such dog for commercial purposes is guilty of a criminal offence and is liable to a fine or imprisonment on conviction of up to six (6) months, or both.
“This hidden gem prohibits the killing of dogs for commercial use. This is a step forward in our mission to protect the welfare of animals, especially dogs,” according to the statement.
According to the trust, they have done a lot of research into Namibia's legal framework for animal protection and were previously under the impression that no notices had been issued in terms of the animal protection law.
“When we were confronted with the question of whether it was illegal to kill a dog for consumption purposes, we had to concede that it was not illegal.”
Although the notice was issued before Namibia's independence, the trust claims that it is still in force in Namibia today.
The Justice for Animals Trust's statement ends with the words: “Job, we are coming for you.” This follows a video in which the Affirmative Repositioning (AR) activist Job Amupanda eats dog meat that he bought at a market.
Amupanda posted on his Facebook page yesterday afternoon: “Sune and all of you in that kaSkumba [group]. Next time I see my name in your statement, you will all f**k.
“They have to advocate for their things without thinking that all black people are weak like plastic politicians. We will defend our culture, food and views as we see fit,” he told Republikein's sister publication Namibian Sun yesterday.
Following statements by the operations manager of the SPCA in Windhoek, Sylvia Breitenstein, in which she said that the association has no problem with people eating dogs, the SPCA Namibia said in a statement on Monday that they do not support or approve the eating of dogs for human consumption.
They claim that the methods used to slaughter animals are not humane and that they pose various health risks.
“The World Health Organisation (WHO) warns that the slaughter and eating of dogs poses health risks to humans and may cause zoonotic diseases, including trichinellosis (intestinal parasites and larvae found in the muscles of the dogs), cholera and rabies.” – [email protected]