The myth and means of dog meat

While speaking to Sunday Trust, she declared that “I don’t see why some people have expressed unusual interest in what I do. Dog meat is a very sweet meat and personally, I don’t see anything wrong with it. If you can eat goat meat, cow meat and even snail and snake meat, why can’t you eat dog meat?” she queried.  Asked how she got deliveries of the dogs, she explained further that “on the average, I take delivery of about twenty to forty dogs weekly, depending on the market forces but I must tell you that market for me, is very good because gone are the days when people refer to people like us as pagans, now the awareness is getting stronger. In those days, only people from Calabar, Ondo State, and some part of Taraba States were known for eating dogs but these days, almost every Nigerian eat dog. As you can see, I have customers from all part of Nigeria.” While commenting on the prices of the dogs, she told this medium that a small dog costs about N2,000, while a big one attracts N5,000 and N7,000, depending on the size.

A civil servant with the Ministry of Works and Housing, Abuja who identified himself as Williams Onasanya admitted to this reporter that “dog meat is very sweet! Those who don’t eat it are really missing a lot. Besides, it is very cheap compared to other meat pepper soups. For instance, with as low as two hundred naira, I can get a plateful of dog meat pepper soup which is not the case with cow meat or goat meat pepper soup.” However, apart from the traditional inhibition which forbids most people from patronizing dog meats, Malam Haruna Ibrahim told this medium that “the consumption of dog meat is strictly forbidden by Allah because of its inherent impurities. It is also in the same vein that Muslims are forbidden to eat pork meat.” But just like the age long aphorism that “one man’s food is another man’s poison”, Folajaiye who hails from Ondo State told this reporter that “apart from the taste of the local dog meat, it provides man with nutrients just like every other meat and more.

It is a very good source of protein and calcium. He claimed that “The water that is used to cook the meat, when taken before the ingredients are added could cure rheumatism and arthritis. When taken after the ingredients are added, helps to improve the sex life of consumers”. But while dog eaters in various joints in Abuja savour the meat, in other part of Nigeria, the dog is usually seen as a sacrificial object to Ogun, the legendary god of iron. While other see the animal as man’s best friend.

Perhaps, one aspect that has drawn widespread criticisms on the dog eaters boders on the gruesome manner the dogs are killed in the process of turning them into pepper soup. Nwando Emmanuel, who operates a popular dog pepper soup joint in Jikwoyi, told Sunday Trust that “you know, dogs are not like goats or rams that you can kill easily without any protest from them. So because of their tendencies to bite, killing a dog for the purpose of pepper soup or barbeque requires that you be very careful if not, the dog can even kill you in the process. So to avoid that, some people usually lure the dog into a big sack after which the mouth of the sack would be covered and then, you violently hit the sack on the ground which will weaken the dog, then you quickly slaughter it with a sharp knife or cutlass.” Nwando also explained that other ways to kill the animal included using a special hook with jagged edges. According to him, you would put the dog’s food on the surface of the hook, then as soon as the dog starts eating the food, you would tighten the noose around its mouth such that it would prevent it from biting you, thereafter, the dog is slaughtered.’ Alternatively, others kill the dog in a another spectacular manner which involves First, we put a loop made of a very strong rope or wire around the dogs’ neck. Here, we call it a crown because of the way it goes from the dog’s head to the neck. Then the butcher lifts the dog up by the loop bringing it up above other animals. The dog struggles and the loop gets tighter. The dog struggles until it is lifeless.”

After life has been snuffed out of the dog, the onward journey into the big pots of pepper soup then begins. According to wale Odumakin, a server in one of the joints in Nyayan. There are mainly two ways of processing the dog after it has been killed. First you either skin it by immersing it into a pot of hot boiling water and removing the skin with blade or a very sharp small knife or if you don’t mind, you can roast the dog with fire to remove the hair on the skin’ he said. And to add glamour and pump to the whole process, whenever we want to kill the dog, a red flag is mounted to signify to all lovers of dog meat that the real action is in progress and the flag will not be lowered until the dog meat has been completely devoured”

The dog eaters have inadvertently coined names for their delicacy which includes “gearbox which is the dog’s heart, kidney, liver, intestines. Headlights include the dog meat dish which has all the head parts available with the eyes being the prominent component. And tyre means a dog’s legs cut into pieces for easy consumption.”

Those who eat dog meat have at various times cited reasons why they indulge in the act. For instance Ismailia believes that dog meat is tastier than beef, goat meat and chicken. The best part, he said, was the head, which he claimed cured waist pains and offers protection against witchcraft. Tanko Kurungu, a labourer, said he rate dog because it was medicinal. But Dr Dare Omoniwa, a vetinary doctor at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria told this medium that “while there are no known medical advantages derived from eating dogs, it was important to know that a poorly cooked dog meat could spread rabies and worm infection but besides this, there were no medical findings that suggest that the consumption of dog meat was capable of curing malaria and other diseases.”

Major dog pepper soup joints in Abuja include, “south Africa” in Kubwa which plays host to lovers of dog meat from a wide section of the society. Others include “Zimbabwe” along Abuja Keffi road amongst others.