As you walk down the lane towards your home, carrying groceries placed in the plastic bags, you spot a group of street dogs playing nearby. One of them comes over to you, its eyes soft and kind, tail wagging and mouth open in a happy grin. It instigates an urge in you to pet it, to nurture it with all the love you can give.

Yet, behind this cheerful face lies a grim reality that most of us seldom acknowledge. These very dogs, brimming with life and affection, are often snatched from their familiar streets or even stolen from loving homes, only to be crammed into gunny bags and transported to distant markets. The journey is brutal, deprived of food, water, and comfort, the animals endure unimaginable distress and pain. Their playful innocence is met not with compassion, but with greed, as they are traded in secretive markets where their fate is sealed for their meat. The cruelty is unspoken about, often not even regarded as an issue.

Despite being an illegal act, thousands of dogs are slaughtered every year. In India, the dog meat trade hides a cruelty that is almost unbearable to imagine. Gentle souls, once roaming freely in their communities or cherished as beloved pets, are torn away from everything they know. Many are stolen from their homes, others snatched from the streets, only to be shoved into coarse jute sacks with just their heads exposed. Their mouths are bound so tightly, or even stitched shut, that their cries for help are never heard. Hours turn into days as they are travel over long distances in the backs of trucks, without food, without water, without the smallest chance to move. When they finally arrive at the market, they remain trapped in those same suffocating sacks, waiting in silent terror for their fate.

The methods of killing are horrific. Dogs are beaten to death, hidden from public sight yet cruelly within view of other terrified dogs, forcing them to witness the suffering of their own kind. Despite India’s Food Safety and Standards Act of 2006 and its related regulations clearly outlawing the dog meat trade and its consumption, the practice still lingers in certain parts of the country, most notably in some northeastern states, casting a dark shadow over our moral conscience.

JBF has persistently been a voice for these voiceless creatures, fighting for their rights and spreading awareness about the atrocities committed against them. With the aim to gain more ground level understanding of cruelty towards animal. JBF has conducted research on Dog meat trade in Nagaland and Nagaland Assam border areas. Theresearch tried to find the cause of consumption of dog meat, cause of increase in demand of dogmeat, dog trafficking, person involved, identification of traffic prone regions etc.

On December 2017, 42 ‘Meat Trade rescued dogs’ were rescued from Khetri. They were packed ingunny bags for dog meat trade. JBF along with Assam police succeeded in saving them. Therescued dogs were brought to JBF Centre for treatment and temporary shelter. Later, 30 dogs were adopted. In 2022, JBF in collaboration with Help Animals Indiaconducted a community awareness drive on the topicof “Illegal Dog Meat Trade” in Lukhukhania village,Bokakhat, Assam. In view of increasing cases of dogmeat trade in Assam, the awareness drive aimed ateducate the masses regarding the issue from grassroot level.

The influence JBF has on improving the welfare of dogs and providing them shelter is to take note of. JBF’s holistic approach is truly credible because it goes beyond just rescuing dogs, it also captures their physical, mental, and social wellness. JBF’s services not only provides dogs with shelter and veterinary services, but also focuses on their rehabilitation, ensuring that each dog is adopted into a permanent family. In addition, JBF also coordinates community education and social awareness programmes to fight against the illegal dog meat trade, works with law enforcement, and studies the factors of the cruelty to dogs. Although the work of JBF seems local, it is aimed at the global welfare of dogs and their communities and that is the real impact of their work.