Now Indonesia is risking another coronavirus pandemic with their filthy live animal markets

by MikeB · July 16, 2021

China does not have an exclusive right over these disgusting live animal markets where zoonotic diseases can transmit from animals to people and where animal cruelty is perpetrated daily with impunity. Indonesia does a good job at jeopardising the human race with their ticking timebomb live animal markets as the Mirror newspaper described them. You would have thought that governments across the planet would be more sensitive to the possibility of starting another pandemic after this catastrophic Covid pandemic which has so drastically affected billions of people. But no, Indonesia ploughs on with their crappy habits which no doubt is part of their culture but I’m sorry to say that if their culture allows disgusting live animal markets it is a very poor culture.

Horrible sight: fruit bats blow torched at an Indonesian live animal market. Photo: Â© FOUR PAWS

The Mirror features the Beriman live animal market in Tomohon, on the island of Sulawesi. This island is governed by Indonesia. Experts say that the filthy conditions and surfaces contaminated with blood and faeces presents a ticking timebomb for a new pandemic.

I have read, but I can’t verify, that China did something about their wet markets. They cleaned them up in a belated reaction to the coronavirus pandemic which they started either in a wet market or in their Wuhan bio lab. However, you cut it and dice it they are responsible and now Indonesia is risking the same thing.

These live animal markets are inherently cruel to animals as well. There is something horrendously barbaric about it to people in the West like me who hopefully have a refined attitude towards animal welfare.

I checked to see what animal welfare laws Indonesia has to try and understand their mentality. They do have a criminal code which prohibits causing unnecessary harm intentionally to animals. But Wikipedia says that this law focuses on the health and productivity of the animals as a human property i.e. a product to be possessed. Straightforward criminal code is not animal welfare law.

True animal welfare law is one which is entirely focused on animal welfare for obvious reasons. Criminal code is designed to punish people who are cruel to animals and therefore it focuses on people. The anti-cruelty provisions of the Indonesian criminal code apply to farm animals. Further, animal testing for cosmetics is allowed in Indonesia. It has been banned from Europe for quite a long time. Any decent society would have banned animal testing for cosmetics many years ago. It is totally unjustifiable for obvious reasons.

I also read that the Indonesian government advises people to kill dogs rather than place them in a shelter. The most common way to kill them is through strychnine poisoning. Clearly barbaric and inhumane because it is very painful.

My conclusion, and I have to be totally and brutally honest, is that Indonesia has an uncivilised approach to animal welfare. They should be decried for their culture which allows animal cruelty and these horrendous live animal markets.

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