Plastic bags packed with dog meat, and many dog carcasses, were found in a pickup truck police stopped for a search in Sakon Nakhon’s Muang district early Wednesday morning, and the driver and passenger were arrested.
Highway police stopped the blue pickup truck with a Nakhon Phanom licence plate at a checkpoint on the Sakon Nakhon-Nakhon Phanom route around 5am on Wednesday.
When the officers looked under a tarpaulin covering the truck bed they found it packed with plastic bags containing dog meat, along with many dog carcasses. It was estimated the load comprised about 100 slaughtered dogs.
Driver Sanan Seema, 43, and Trairong Suemmek, 27, both from Sakon Nakhon, were detained on charges of illegally transporting animal carcasses to other areas and illegal trading in animal carcasses.
Two men,(left) arrested after highway police find plastic bags packed with dog meat and carcasses in their pickup truck during a search in Sakon Nakhon early Wednesday morning. (Photo by Pratuan Kajonvuthinun)
Mr Sanan told police he had bought slaughtered dogs in Mukdahan’s Dong Luang district for sale to traders in tambon Thalae of Sakon Nakhon.
He bought the butchered dogs for 150 baht each and sold them for 250 baht. Dog meat was priced at 50-60 baht a kilo in Dong Luang, and he sold it for 100-120 baht a kilo, he said.
Police have clamped down on canine butcheries in Thalae and this had driven many traders to buy dog meat and dog carcasses in other areas, he said.
A source said traders opted to smuggle dog meat and slaughtered dogs instead of live dogs as it was easier to avoid police searches. Dog meat is popular in neighbouring countries.