Animal Campaigners Unite in Global Hand In of 700,000 Petition Signatures

Jakarta/Vienna, 30 April 2026 

• 700,000 signatures urging Indonesia’s President to pass the Animal Protection and Welfare Bill and ban a trade that kills over one million dogs and tens of thousands of cats annually
• Widespread but incomplete regulation: despite 122 local jurisdictions taking action, there is still no nationwide ban, leaving an estimated 16 million dogs insufficiently protected
• Strong public backing and health risks: 93% of Indonesians support a ban, while the trade fuels rabies transmission across Indonesia

Today, global animal welfare organisation FOUR PAWS and Humane World for Animals ― members of the Dog Meat Free Indonesia (DMFI) coalition — submitted a petition with 700,000 signatures to Indonesian embassies and consulates in twelve cities across six continents. The petition urges Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto to support the passage of the Animal Protection and Welfare Bill currently being debated, to ban the trade that sees more than a million dogs and tens of thousands of cats stolen, trafficked and slaughtered for human consumption every year. If passed into law, Indonesia would become the sixth nation or territory in Asia to explicitly ban the cruel trade.

Indonesia is estimated to have a dog population exceeding 16 million. While 122 regencies, cities and provinces across the country have issued local directives or regulations to tackle the dog and cat meat trade, a nationwide ban has yet to be implemented.

Cruel trade fuels rabies threat across Indonesia

The dog and cat meat trade is a significant animal welfare issue in Indonesia involving the suffering and death of large numbers of animals, including stolen pets. Dogs and cats are trafficked across the country to supply markets, slaughterhouses and restaurants where they are slaughtered using crude and brutal methods. The trade’s mass movement of dogs of unknown disease or vaccination status is also a major human health concern. It facilitates the spread of deadly diseases, including rabies and directly undermines the country's achievement of its pledge to eliminate rabies by 2030 by bringing infected dogs into previously rabies-free areas. Dog thieves also remove vaccinated dogs from communities, breaking down ‘herd’ immunity achieved when at least 70% of dogs are vaccinated in each area and which is necessary for rabies eradication.   

 Majority of Indonesians support a ban 

Opinion polls nationwide reveal that 93% of Indonesians support a ban on the trade, with just 5.4% having consumed dog meat and less than 1% cat meat.

Lola Webber, international director of DMFI, said: “Our investigations have revealed that hundreds of markets and slaughterhouses across Indonesia are still selling dogs and cats for meat, making this trade a catastrophic threat to animal welfare and rabies elimination efforts. We stand united in our commitment to a dog and cat meat–free Indonesia—for the protection of animals, public health and communities. Backed by the overwhelming majority of Indonesians who support a ban, and a growing wave of regional action to end the trade, Indonesia now has the public and political support, and the opportunity, to pass landmark, enforceable legislation and bring this cruelty to an end for good.”

Campaigners submitted petitions to officials in Australia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Canada, Chile, India, Italy, Mexico, Poland, South Korea and Thailand.