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Jakarta has outlawed the sale and consumption of dog, cat and bat meat, introducing one of Indonesia’s most sweeping measures yet to curb rabies and regulate its controversial meat trade.
Governor Pramono Anung signed the prohibition into force on 24 November, with Jakarta officials later confirming that the ban is now active.
The new regulation bars the sale of any rabies-transmitting animals for food – a category that includes dogs, cats, monkeys, bats, civets and similar species – and extends to all live animals, carcasses, and raw or processed products.
Mr Anung said the measure fulfilled a commitment he had made to animal welfare activists who petitioned him in October.
“When receiving the animal lovers, I promised them to establish a governor regulation,” he told Antara News, adding that their advocacy prompted him to move quickly.
The ban introduces a graduated enforcement system, according to Jakarta Globe.
First-time offenders will receive a written warning, and any animals or meat found with them will be seized for observation, particularly where signs of rabies are present.
Dog meat enthusiasts enjoy a dish at a food stall in Jakarta ( AFP via Getty )
A second breach triggers full confiscation of stock. Continued violations can lead to business closures, and further non-compliance may result in the permanent revocation of business licences.
A six-month grace period will apply before active enforcement begins, according to the AFP, though the regulation itself is already in effect.
Officials say the transition window is intended to allow businesses to adjust and for authorities to prepare monitoring mechanisms.
Indonesia remains one of the few countries where dog or cat meat is still sold for consumption, although public opposition has grown and several municipalities have introduced local bans in recent years.
Dogs are considered unclean under mainstream Islamic teaching – Indonesia is the world’s largest Muslim-majority country – and are rarely kept as household pets, but dog meat persists as a delicacy in certain regional communities and as a low-cost protein source in parts of Asia.
Animal-rights groups hailed Jakarta’s move as a major breakthrough. Dog Meat Free Indonesia told AFP that the new policy “aligns with the mandate of the constitution to protect all Indonesian people and to become a just and civilised nation”.
Rabies remains a significant public-health concern in Indonesia, where dozens die each year from the disease.
The World Health Organization attributes several dozen annual deaths to rabies across the archipelago, while the health ministry recorded 25 fatalities between January and March 2025 alone.
The Jakarta administration says the new regulation is designed to strengthen public-health safeguards and reduce opportunities for the virus to spread via animal handling and slaughter.
“I hope this helps protect and improve the health of Jakarta residents,” the governor said in a statement posted on his official Instagram account.
Old-Sprinkles760 on December 12nd, 2025 at 15:08 UTC »
It really comes down to culture and emotional bonds. Dogs and cats are seen as family in many societies, so eating them feels like a betrayal. You're right that pigs and cows are intelligent and social too,it shows how inconsistent our moral lines can be. In the end, it's less about logic and more about what we're conditioned to value.
hahayeahimfinehaha on December 12nd, 2025 at 12:43 UTC »
I eat meat, so I hope people don't get defensive, but I never understood why eating dogs and cats is so ethically looked down upon when eating other animals isn't. Pigs are as intelligent as a toddler, and cows have best cow friends. Again, not trying to shame anyone for being meat eaters. Also not advocating for eating dogs or cats. But it's the inconsistency in logic that bothers me. If stopping the eating of cats and dogs is considered an unambiguously positive move, then shouldn't the same people also celebrate the stopping of eating other animals too? The distinctions we make between food animals and pet animals are, from what I can see, pretty much totally arbitrary and culture-specific.
Edit:
I see many responding with the idea that dogs and cats weren't bred for meat, and that's what makes the difference. However, I don't think this is strictly true. Dogs were historically bred as meat dogs in ancient China, ancient Mexico (the small hairless dogs were bred partly as a meat source), Polynesia, and many other places. Would it be ethical to eat a hairless Mexican dog because they were bred for that, but unethical to eat a German Shepherd because it was bred for something else? I'm not sure I fully recognize why this should be the major distinction in what is ethical or not to eat. There are also other animals that most Westerners would consider pets and balk at eating (e.g., guinea pigs) even though these animals were domesticated for meat.
I guess it's just annoying that there are people who will draw these very bright line distinctions, usually as a way to try to absolve themselves of any moral responsibility for considering their own part in the food cycle. The same people who will call others barbarians for eating dogs will blow up at vegans for daring to question the ethics of eating pigs or cows -- who, frankly, often have just as awful lives in modern industrial meat farms as the dogs and cats bred for meat do if not worse (we have literally deformed factory chickens so much to maximize their white meat that they have lost the ability to WALK). For myself, I don't have a bright line rule on this. Like I said, I do eat meat. I just think that regardless of what you're eating, you should be thoughtful about it, and respect the animal that died to feed you, rather than scrambling to find supposedly 'objective' hard-line rules that just so happen to make all of YOUR meats of choice totally OK and beyond the need for scrutiny, but no one else's.
I also think if you're someone who is against dog and cat farms due to concerns about their conditions, that is totally right but you should have that same energy for the disgusting conditions in which our own meat animals are raised. I eat meat but make sure to stay informed about where my meat comes from and vote for politicians that would promote better conditions for meat farm animals. It's hypocritical, imo, to cheer on the animal rights people when it comes to dogs and cats and then immediately get defensive about animal rights people criticizing industrial farming of cows and pigs. Meat eater or not, we should all be working to improve conditions for animals around the world, even (or maybe especially) with regards to the animals we kill for food.
mosurn on December 12nd, 2025 at 12:29 UTC »
Sounds like an even bigger win for local dogs and cats lol