TripAdvisor Removes Promotion of North Sulawesi’s Brutal Live Animal Markets Following DMFI’s Investigations

Added on Tuesday, 23 January 2018

In December 2017, the Dog Meat-Free Indonesia coalition conducted investigations into North Sulawesi’s brutal live animal markets.

The video evidence gathered during the investigations was shocking and included the routine bludgeoning to death of thousands of dogs and cats every week, the cruel blow-torching of live animals, and the brutal killing of dogs and cats in full view of their terrified cage-mates.

Whilst we were shocked to discover that TripAdvisor listed “Tomohon Extreme Market” as “#7 out of 12 things to do in Tomohon”, we applaud their swift action after the Coalition alerted them to the grave concerns for animal welfare. In a statement from TripAdvisor, they said: “We have investigated the TripAdvisor listing page for Tomohon Extreme Market and concluded that it does not meet the standards set by our listings policy. As a result, we have permanently removed the listing from both our site and our app.”

Read the letter sent to TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor explained that they do not allow the listing of establishments such as markets whose “primary purpose involves the harming or killing of either endangered species or captive animals”, in this case dogs and cats for human consumption. The same would apply to all live animal markets where animals are slaughtered.

Most travelers would be horrified at the promotion of such horrific markets which trivialise the very serious nature of the animal suffering that takes place there. It’s a sickening display that should never be seen as entertainment.

Find out more here

Download Letter to Trip Advisor CEO

Facebook

Twitter

In Bobby’s Honour

We found Bobby sitting in a wire cage in a busy dog meat market in North Sulawesi whilst we were conducting investigations in December 2017. He was surrounded by scenes from a horror movie, and the terror in his eyes was haunting. We knew we couldn’t leave him.

It breaks our heart that he left this world too soon, but he left having known love and with a name. And in his name, we will never give up until the dog and cat meat trades end throughout Indonesia.

Hero’s Story

The Dog Meat Free-Indonesia coalition spent many long and heartbreaking months investigating the inner-workings of the dog meat trade throughout Indonesia. As people who do what we do because we care so passionately about animals, doing investigations never gets any easier. It is soul-destroying and heart-breaking, but essential in documenting the reality of the trade so that we are best-positioned to fight it, and to ultimately realise our goal of ending the dog meat trade.

But we always save those we can…

On one particular day, we had the chance to save a dog who we named 'Hero'.

Change is coming in Indonesia and throughout Asia… Never before has the dog meat trade or the consumption of dog meat been questioned the way it is now. People are turning their backs on a trade and a practice that can no longer hide behind a defense of ‘culture’ or ‘tradition’.