They consume ‘404’ with relish, and they strongly believe the local breed of dogs which they eat don’t have and can never contract any lethal virus. ‘404’ is a nickname or reference for dog meat, a popular delicacy in many parts of Nigeria.
Few weeks ago, Liberia recorded a fresh outbreak of the Ebola when a 17-year-old boy tested positive and died after consuming dog meat. This development came seven weeks after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the country free of the virus after it completed 42 days without a new case.
The Project director, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Prof. Abdulsalami Nasidi, comments: “It is unfortunate it is reoccurring even though it is not surprising that Ebola is still there. What is more worrisome is that the new case reported was linked to eating dog meat even though they have not proven the causal association. We are now getting a new dimension to the outbreak that domestic animals could be involved. That’s a very dangerous situation.”
The situation at some of the inns and restaurants where people trade in dog meat is like a festival with dogs as the main item on the menu. Though this is not similar to China’s Yulin annual festival of dog meat eating and lychees, which sees about ten thousand dogs butchered and eaten to celebrate the summer solstice in June every year since 2009.
While some individuals view the practice of raising dogs for food as strange and unsettling; others in states of Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Plateau, Ondo, Taraba, Gombe among others, identify dog meat as a culinary delight, and even believe it has health benefits regarding virility. In other words it is believed to enhance a man’s sexual capacity.
Daniel Gudam, a resident of Katamkpe II and Happiness Nakuku of Aso-B area of Mararaba, say dog meat has become a favourite cuisine among the Langtang of Plateau State. In separate interviews, both confess to have started eating dog meat right from childhood.
“When people around you are doing something, you have no option than to join them. Almost everybody in the village eats dog meat, so I see no reason not to eat the meat,” Gudam says.
He adds: “In recent times, youngsters in Langtang tend to shy away from eating dogs and the percentage of those who eat dog meat on regular basis is gradually reducing. However, a large amount of dogs are killed for food every day in various restaurants across the city.”
Joshua Danjuma of Katamkpe II believes eating dog meat prevents one from any attack and also serves as an antidote to diseases. He says if he was being served dog meat, chicken and cow meat, he would opt for dog meat, “because the meat is nice.” He adds that those who eat dog meat are the strongest in his Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area of Bauchi State.
On dog meat and Ebola, Danjuma says, in Pidgin English, “Ebola no dey catch dog; if you eat dog meat, Ebola no go catch you.” His position was supported by many of his colleagues who gathered round the stall of a dog meat trader. One of them, Denies Innebechi, opines that eating dog meat prevents one from being attacked by witches. He says, “I have not had headache since I have been eating the meat. My body dey kampe.”
Mama Emmanuel, who hails from Jikum in Taraba State and resides in Aso-B area of Mararaba, says though she was drawn into eating dog meat by her brother 15 years ago, the moment she tasted the meat, she says she enjoyed the delicacy, and since then, she has been eating the meat. She adds that she was not aware of any dog related disease; she just eats the meat simply because “dog meat is sweet.”
Moses Matus is from Tangale, in Kaltungo Local Government, Gombe State. He says in Tangale, dog, among other items, is part of the gifts a prospective groom presents to the bride’s parents. He says the dogs would be butchered and shared to neighbours together with guinea corn.
He says eating dog meat makes him feel stronger.He also believes eating dog meat prevents one from attacks. On the link between Ebola and dog meat, he says in Pidgin English, “Dog meat no dey give ebola or any disease, na lie.” Our forefathers, he adds, would have died of disease if it is true.
At a stall owned by Amutu in Figba Kasa, Apo, lovers of the meat sit comfortably on the long wooden bench eating dog meat with glasses of Burukutu, a locally made alcoholic drink derived from guinea corn. Many of them, though unaware of the dog meat tragedy, are bent on continuing to eat the meat even after this reporter informed them of the resurgence of Ebola in Liberia.
In Nyanya-Gwandara along Abuja-Keffi expressway, the location is like a party as the only dog meat ‘joint’ in the area is full to capacity. When Daily Trust visited the place, exotic cars, parked around the environs reveal the presence of ‘big men’ who enjoy the delicacy with assorted beers. Both the dealers and their customers declined comments on account of the fact that this reporter refused to pay the amount of money requested before granting him interview.
Dogs meant for consumption
Dogs that usually end in the cooking pots are those dumped on the street by their owners, who have either grown tired of them or cannot afford to feed them. Such abandoned dogs endure miserable living conditions and often are slaughtered in a painful manner.
They are picked up by dog meat traders, stuffed into a tiny wire cage and taken to their grimy abattoir for slaughter. At the open-air slaughterhouse, dogs are bludgeoned to death with heavy objects, their fur is scorched off with a blow-torch, and their bodies are dissected all in plain sight of passers-by.
Though other ‘big’ dealers say they import dogs from neighbouring Jos and Southern Kaduna , but these dogs are kept in cramped rusty cages stacked on top of each other and shipped for hours into Abuja, in extremely inhuman condition without food or water.
What is more worrisome is that many of these dogs killed are not inspected by the appropriate authority to ensure they are safe for consumption. Although those eating dog meat say they have never fallen victim of any disease linked to dogs , but consuming uninspected meat may put individuals at risk of contracting a deadly virus.
Dealers bent on continuing the business
In June the local media reported the death of , at least, five persons in Woji, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, after eating dog meat at a popular inn in the area. However, the traders in Abuja say that the mysterious death and the Liberia Ebola tragedy cannot deprive them of their means of livelihood as they promised to remain in the business.
They say nothing would stop them from doing their business since they had never received any complaint from their customers. They say dog meat business thrives mostly at month end when workers receive salaries.
One of the dealers in Katamkpe II, who simply identified himself as Kusa, tells Daily Trust that no one has ever complained to him regarding dog-related virus since he has been trading in dog meat for over 30 years. “People buy dog meat every time and in a day, I kill and sell, at least, three dogs,” he says.
Kusa, whose wife was busy dishing out meat to patrons while he was interacting with this reporter, says: “If you kill goat here, you hardly get people to buy it.But if it were to be dog, you will see people in large numbers coming to buy. Within a few hours the meat would have finished.”
Adams Pada expressed confidence that the outbreak of any disease would not affect the business even though he was ignorant of the Ebola – dog meat saga in Liberia. He says: “I don’t believe those eating dog meat can contact Ebola. We don’t know about that issue and our dogs here don’t have any disease. If anyone informs you that eating dog meat can cause any deadly disease, the person is telling you a big lie.”
Agnes Dawam says that trading in dog meat, as a woman, is a huge challenge, but her involvement in the business is just to get something doing to avoid idleness and to support her family .Strapping her baby on her back, she busies herself attending to customers who rally round her stall. At intervals, she goes into the store and comes out with roasted dog parts in different sizes.
“Dogs are kept in a store far from where we sell,” she says. “It takes me three days to finish selling a complete dog when I started five years ago. Now I sell two dogs in a day and more during the peak period.”
Mother of two, Biskila Sunday, says the business remains the only means with which she survives and caters for her children’s needs. “This is the only business I do and nothing more. People come here to buy meat every day, and none has ever complained about any sickness. So why should I stop?” she queries.
At her stall in Durumi, roasted dog meat is arranged in heaps on a table, and uncooked dissected parts of dogs are kept in a bowl a few feet away.
Safe for consumption
Prof. Abdulsalami Nasidi says that while research is on-going to find out the causal association between dog meat and EVD, “it is very difficult to say categorically that it is the dog meat that caused the Ebola.”
Dogs are like any other animal and safe for consumption, he says, but cautions that eating virus-laden dogs is unsafe. “If one eats a meat that has a virus, the chance that the person will get the virus is very high. We won’t say don’t eat dog but any area where dogs are dying, people are advised not to go near them, because it means they have a disease killing them. But unfortunately in some places where dogs die people rush them to the pot to cook and eat.”
Nasidi adds: “usually it is not the people that eat the meat get the disease, but those that process it. It is rarely possible to get a disease from eating it direct, but it is very possible to get infected with disease if the meat is not well-cooked.”
The National President of Nigerian Veterinary Medical Association (NVMA), Dr. Edgar Amos Sunday, corroborates Nasidi’s submission. Sunday says: “The virus causing Ebola does not withstand cooking temperature and is readily destroyed by heat. So it is unlikely to get infected from eating cooked or fried meat. However, it is possible to get the virus while processing, i.e. slaughtering, cutting, infected animals. In the case of Liberia, some form of contact with the uncooked blood or fluids may have occurred, especially while cutting the raw meat with bare hands.”
In the specific case of Nigeria, he says there is no report of the disease at the moment, so there is no imminent risk of contracting Ebola from eating the meat.
Apart from Ebola, Sunday says, there are other diseases one could get through close contact with dogs. An example of such is rabies which is a “highly potent and deadly disease that one could get ,and the virus is usually transmitted in the saliva of the dog from which man gets infected when the dog bites him.”
Meanwhile, both Nasidi and Sunday advised Nigerians to be wary of eating any uncooked/half cooked animal meat, while those processing animal meat should do it with full protection. They also call for adoption of hygienic measures, stressing that a lot of diseases went down during the Ebola period, because Nigerians did what they supposed to do.
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