Dog meat vendors in Kohima. (Morung File Photo)
Morung Express news
Kohima | January 31
“After the ban, even when we tried our hands into other small poultry business, it became extremely difficult to make returns out of it,” said Neizevolie Kuotsu who had been engaged in the supply of dogs for many years. The ban was called during a time the whole world was experiencing the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, he added.
“Our business had already been affected then because of the lockdown and the ban came into effect without notice. It was extremely worrying because this was the only source to pay for the education of our children and take care of the household,” Kuotsu told The Morung Express.
The Nagaland Government had put in place a blanket ban on sale of dogs and dog meat in Nagaland in July, 2020 citing provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act and Regulations, 2011.
Prior to the ban, Kuotsu dealt in supply of dogs for more than 16 years and owned a designated shop for selling dog meat in Kohima. An import/export permit issued by the Kohima Municipal Council allowed him to supply the meat from all over India to Kohima.
While he thinks the ban should not have been imposed, Kuotsu instead says the priority should be on how the sale is carried out. “People like us pay all necessary taxes. But some sell the meat openly in random places or streetside which is wrong and badly reflects how meat business is carried out in Nagaland because that is how outsiders will see us,” he reasoned.
Though not consumed by all, many still believe in the medicinal benefits that a dog meat provides, apart from being consumed as a dietary habit in the Naga society. This was attested by several women vendors in T Khel market, Kohima who confirmed that a lot of people come to buy the meat considering it as a curative for diseases like tuberculosis, malaria, cough etc.
“We made a few hundred rupees a day to make ends meet,” one of the women vendors shared, while putting across that they had no alternatives left after the ban was ordered.
“We stayed back home without any other choice. But because of the recent court order, we have started selling what we can acquire locally,” she added.
“A ray of hope is seen after the court has stayed the operation of the ban,” Kezhosano Kikhi, Advocate of the petitioners who moved the Guahati High Court, Kohima Bench in September 2020, challenging the ban order.
Weighing in on the ban, psychiatrist Dr P Ngully considered it important to understand the relationship between food and the people, before yielding to pressure from international media or others who do not consume the meat and imposing a ban.
“It should be based on certain facts, figures and studies relevant to our cultural context and the place and environment in a bottom up approach because whatever we enact now is for posterity,” he maintained.
While the order has been stayed after the intervention of the Court, Kikhi assured that all necessary concerns would be addressed as and when the matter is listed again.
“All the three acts including FSS Act, Prevention of Cruelty to Animal Act and the Wildlife Act have to be looked into holistically to understand the definition of animal and whether it is fit for human consumption or not. A prohibitory order can only be issued by a Food Safety Commissioner for a limited period of time after various tests or study conducted,” she said, refuting the legal basis and jurisdiction of the ban.
“The penal provision that comes with the ban has a criminalizing aspect of people who even sell and consume the meat,” Kikhi added.
Meanwhile, those who were at the heart of the trade, remain hopeful that they will resume their trade, “once everything sets in place.”
“People still come expecting the cooked meat because we are yet to remove it from the menu,” a fast food shop owner told this newspaper. “But it cannot go by the old rate because the earlier ban order has affected the rate of the meat,” the shop owner added.
