Protector of Dogs

KOMPAS/MOHAMMAD HILMI FAIQ

Anita Santa Panggabean

Her love of animals has motivated Anita Santa Panggabean to campaign against the human consumption of dog meat. She conducts investigations, reports to the authorities and even buys unfortunate dogs to save them from doom. She has become a protector of dogs.

These days, Anita Santa Panggabean, who is more commonly known as “Cecet”, is busy visiting churches and kindergartens in the areas around Lake Toba, such as Samosir, Toba Samosir and North Tapanuli. At churches and schools, through her Toba Animal Friends network and Dogs Are Not Food movement, Cecet campaigns for caring for animals, especially dogs, which she says should never be consumed as food.

The Agriculture Ministry’s directorate general of animal husbandry and veterinary health issued a circular on 25 Sept. 2018 stating that dog meat was not included as food.

For Cecet, raising awareness among children was more effective than trying to convince adults who had long assumed that dogs could be consumed as food. It was these children who would later cut the chain of the generation of dog eaters.

“They will later bring about change,” said Cecet when meeting in Medan on Tuesday (12/4/2022).

Also read:

> Convenient Transportation for Animals

> Fighting for Animal Welfare

In her other campaign, Cecetis asking for the support of 97 bentor (sidecar motorcycle taxi) drivers in Medan to put posters containing basic information and calls to stop consuming dog meat on their sidecars. Every month, she pays the bentor drivers Rp 50,000 to Rp 75,000 and packages of basic foods.

More directly, Cecet is gathering data on food stalls selling dog meat and reports them to the police, who can then carry out raids. She is also trying to find a rental house she can use as a shelter for dogs that are rescued during police raids. “Newly rescued dogs cannot just be mixed with others because they could transmit diseases,” she said.

If they turn out to be sick, they would be given veterinary treatment.

Cecet added that many dogs that were slaughtered for food were sick. Usually, rescue dogs needed blood tests to be checked for viruses to ascertain their health condition. If they turn out to be sick, they would be given veterinary treatment.

Cecet frequently has to buy the dogs from the food stall owners to rescue them. It might cost Rp 800,000 to buy a dog, but their care and treatment can reach millions of rupiah.

Traumatic experience

Cecet was born and raised in eastern Medan. As a child, she used to eat dog meat. When she was in the third grade of elementary school, she saw a pig wailing loudly as it was being slaughtered. The experience left her traumatized and feeling pity in her heart.

Since then, she has refused to eat pork. This was soon followed by dog meat when she learned that her pet dogs had been stolen and sold to food stalls for consumption. Today, she is a vegan.

KOMPAS/MOHAMMAD HILMI FAIQ

Anita Santa Panggabean

“I don’t eat honey, either. But I’m no longer a strict vegan now because I eat bread made with eggs and butter. It’s very difficult to be a strict vegan here,” said the music graduate of the Indonesian Arts Institute (ISI) Yogyakarta.

She started campaigning against the human consumption of dog meat in 2019, when she returned to Medan after living and working in Yogyakarta, Jakarta, Katapang, Bali and Labuan Bajo. She developed networks of friends in the areas where she worked that later donated to her campaign and encouraged her efforts.

She returned home to take care of her mother, who was seriously ill and had to undergo hemodialysis three times a week. She did it all while working from home. One day, she was invited by Dog Meat Free Indonesia to join an investigation.

“’Even without pay, I’m OK,’” Cecet recalled answering when she was offered the project.

She started investigating in June 2019 with the help of a friend, as she was not yet ready to visit the food stalls on her own, as she was afraid she would be unable to refrain from buying all the dogs when she noticed their suffering.

She gave her friend glasses, a watch and a concealed microphone shaped like a button that she had bought from an online marketplace. Her method was inspired by an investigative series.

West Sumatra and Jambi. Most of the inhabitants of the regions that supplied the meat no longer consumed dog meat.

From her investigation, Cecet discovered that North Sumatra was consuming dog meat imported from Riau, Aceh, West Sumatra and Jambi. Most of the inhabitants of the regions that supplied the meat no longer consumed dog meat.

There was even an organization of boar hunters that supplied dog meat. It generally sold old hunting dogs or severely injured dogs that would cost a lot of money to treat.

Another fact she discovered was that in Padang Bulan, an area in Medan that had many food stalls, at least 60 dogs were slaughtered each day for consumption.

Counter-narrative

People who eat dog meat often claim that doing so can increase the level of thrombocytes so it was good for the health, especially for those who were sick. When the Covid-19 pandemic struck, some people believed that eating dog meat would increase their immunity.

Cecet has learned from consulting many doctors that soup made with meat can indeed increase the level of thrombocytes. In other words, chicken soup, beef soup and lamb soup also had the same benefits.

KOMPAS/MOHAMMAD HILMI FAIQ

Anita Santa Panggabean

“So, we don’t have to consume dog meat. Moreover, no sick people were going to the food stalls to eat dog meat. The people who went there were healthy,” Cecet pointed out.

She is continuing to spread her counter-narrative through various discussions and messages on social media, using the hashtag #Dogsarenotfood on Instagram and Facebook. Many supporters have emerged in addition to challengers, but Cecet is continuing her efforts as a protector of dogs.

Anita Santa F Panggabean

Born: Medan, 27 Jan. 1982

Education: Bachelor degree, Indonesian Arts Institute (ISI) Yogyakarta

Achievements/awards:

- Finalist, Jejak Petualang (On the trail of adventurers), TV series, 2007

- Third runner-up, Electone Yamaha 1995

Organization: Toba Animal Friends

(This article was translated by Aris Prawira)