Nagaland is in process of banning dog meat

The state Cabinet has not yet taken any decision on the matter but the government through a letter issued by Joint Secretary Obangla Jamir, has asked the Joint Director of Directorate of Municipal Affairs to issue an order to all the ULBs to give wide publicity to care for animals and also to issue an order to stop capture of dogs for the purpose of consumption, an official said.

The Municipal Affairs Department (MAD) have also been requested to stop the bazaars meant for selling live dog meat, besides giving wide publicity to treat animals with care and love, the Joint Secretary said. Subsequently, MAD Joint Director and Head of Department, A Zanbemo Ngullie in a letter to the 23 Administrators of Municipal and Town Councils in the state dated May 3 without issuing any direct order forwarded the Joint Secretary’s letter to them. Nagaland is a high consumer of meat products with dog meat being one of delicacies. 

One kg of dog meat costs more than Rs 300 in the state. There are several hotels, especially in the state capital and commercial hub Dimapur, that serve dog meat. Dogs are even imported from outside the state as dog meat is considered to have medicinal value and nutrition. The official also said that pressure to ban the capture of dogs for the purpose of slaughter and consumption came in the wake of a legal notice served to the state government by an advocate from Assam, NM Kapadia under instruction from his clients. 

The advocate through the legal notice had noted that dog meat was openly sold as food, just as chicken and mutton while all the parts of a dog’s body are used as food under the impression that it contains iron and is the medicine for some disease.