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OPINION: It’s Time for Cambodia to Ban the Dog and Cat Meat Trade and Build a More Compassionate Image
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Future Forum's research fellow, Sreymean Kouch was published in The Cambodianess on October 23rd, 2025. Check out the original article HERE, and read it below!
Across Asia, an estimated 30 million dogs are slaughtered each year for their meat, with Southeast Asian countries contributing significantly to the grim tally. In Cambodia, about 3 million dogs are killed annually, while Indonesia accounts for around 1 million, and Vietnam sees the deaths of roughly 5 million dogs and 1 million cats for human consumption.
The morality of eating dog or cat meat remains a deeply divisive issue. Many argue that distinguishing between the killing of dogs and the slaughter of other livestock, such as pigs or cows, is morally inconsistent. Yet a more constructive debate may lie not in comparing species, but in assessing the broader consequences of this practice—particularly its impact on Cambodia’s global reputation and whether its cultural or economic benefits truly outweigh the damage it causes.
In 2024, South Korea confronted these same questions and took decisive action. Early this year, its government approved a nationwide ban on the dog meat trade, set to take effect in 2027. The bill passed with unanimous support. For decades, the country’s dog meat industry had drawn international criticism for its cruelty and unhygienic conditions, but the shift in public sentiment was decisive. A national poll found that 93 percent of adults had no intention of consuming dog meat, while 82 percent supported the ban.
Other countries in the region have taken similar steps. Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam have all prohibited the trade and sale of dog meat. In Cambodia, a local ban exists in Siem Reap, but the rest of the country remains without such legislation.
It is time for Cambodia to follow South Korea’s lead and adopt a nationwide ban on the dog meat industry. Doing so would signal a commitment to compassion, animal welfare, and a modern image consistent with the country’s values and aspirations.
Animal Welfare as Soft Power
The link between animal welfare practices and soft power may not seem immediately obvious. To understand the connection a bit better let’s consider a country case study.
A key case study on how a country’s treatment of animals can contribute to its soft power comes to us from Turkey. The country has seen both sides of this coin, having experienced both international acclaim for humane treatment of strays and more recently, condemnation tied to a policy that involves the euthanasia of strays.
Turkey has become known globally as one of the friendliest countries to stray cats in particular. The internet is rife with images and videos of stray cats thriving in the country’s capital, Istanbul.
When then U.S. President Barack Obama visited the Istanbul landmark Hagia Sophia in 2009, he encountered a local celebrity, a beloved stray cat named Gli who made the historic building her home. The photo of Obama petting this cat went viral, and at the time of Gli’s passing in 2020 an Instagram account dedicated to sharing her life had over 118,000 followers.
In 2016 a Turkish filmmaker, Ceyda Torun, made a heart-warming feature-length documentary film that focuses on seven street cats in Istanbul. The film has been described as a love letter to the cats of the city, and a testament to how well-treated and cared for these animals are by Istanbul’s residents.
Widely shared images of Turkish people treating street cats with care have created a whole cat-based tourism sub-sector within the country’s capital. One visitor to the city wrote about her trip remarking on the ways people go out of their way to treat the strays with respect—placing cat shelters outside their homes, allowing cats to freely wander into shops to nap in store windows and on seats in cafés.
On rainy days, this traveler saw people sharing dry spots with cats or sheltering a stray under an umbrella as they waited for the bus. Visitors to Istanbul can also sign up for one of the many street cat-focused walking tours that various companies have on offer.
The local cats aren’t the only tourism generating animals. Stray dogs have also gained attention from visitors with one plump canine nicknamed “the boulder” who frequents a particular Istanbul neighborhood becoming a highly-rated tourist attraction.
More recently, however, new Turkish policies toward stray dogs have garnered unwanted attention. The new proposal from President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan details a plan to collect all stray dogs, get them photographed, and get them ready for adoption. Controversially, dogs that are unclaimed by adopters after 30 days will be euthanized by injection. This policy has been met with critical press and protests.
Learning From Korea and Turkey
Cambodia could learn a lot from the approaches of both Korea and Turkey. Cambodia has no shortage of stray cats and dogs. Many Cambodians think of these animals as companions and commonly raise them to guard their houses and take pests or insects out of the house.
Furthermore, the consumption of dog meat or cat meat is not inherently a feature of Cambodian culture.
In the spirit of the Turkey case study, it is clear that there are real soft power benefits that Cambodia could reap from taking better care of our strays, perhaps including by working to better control the population of strays through local campaigns to spay and neuter street animals as well as family pets. After all, we can care for our animals more effectively if the number of them is a bit more manageable.
And we can learn from the Korean case study by banning the production and consumption of dog and cat meat. Among the countries in Southeast Asia, Cambodia is the second leading country in killing dogs for meat and an unaccounted number of cats. With 3 million dogs being killed, the sources of supplies become one of the main questions. According to a report by FOUR PAWS, an animal welfare advocacy organization, dogs in Cambodia at risk of being stolen, poisoned, traded, or bought off.
This should be a concern for the government, which has been working hard to improve Cambodian's image on the international stage. Tourists seeing dogs' and cats' skulls displayed at small restaurants under the name "special meat," especially in the big cities, does not reflect the most positive image of the country. Cambodia should seize this opportunity as a way to project a positive image before the 2029 Asian Youth Games.
The South Korean ban is a good model to follow because it also acknowledges the fact that there are people who rely on this industry for their livelihoods, and that ban provides an off-ramp for these people. The ban includes financial incentives for dog farmers and owners of restaurants who serve dog meat who switch jobs. The law gives three years for business owners to transition to other kinds of business.
Furthermore, those who agree to change their businesses are entitled to monetary support from the government as well as vocational training, employment assistance, and other benefits. Each of these businesses is also required to submit their phaseout plan to a local government.
When the 3 years is up, those who do not obey the law in Korea will be fined up to $22,740 or sentenced up to 3 years for slaughter or consumption of dogs or $14,556.36 or 2 years sentencing for rearing, breeding, distributing, and sales, making it one of the harshest punishment for crime against animals.
A successful dog and cat meat ban will benefit Cambodia more than just leveraging the country's image. It will improve the livelihood of the community and further improve their quality of living due to less fear of having their pets stolen.
Furthermore, such harmony within the community in Cambodia will not just be recognized by the members of the community themselves but also by those who visit the country, even helping to attract more positive attention to the country and increasing the tourism rate, thus creating more jobs and helping the economy.
Moreover, Cambodia also needs to take into account those who will be most affected if the law is implemented. Dog and cat meat suppliers and restaurant owners will have to find other ways to earn money, and for some families, this can be a very critical situation for their families.
In order to solve this problem, Cambodia should involve relevant stakeholders, including the supplier and business owners, local authorities who have jurisdiction over the matter, local and international rescue organizations, and the community that is most affected by the policy. Furthermore, the government should also allow appropriate time for businesses to adapt to the law and offer the necessary support for those who comply willingly.
The Cambodian government should put more effort into improving its soft power. If Cambodia were to follow South Korea and Turkey's footsteps and start paying attention to its strays, it might be able to improve its own image on the international stage and reintroduce itself again not just as a country with remarkable history and culture but also as a compassionate country where its people are kind towards humans and animals alike.
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