This World Rabies Day, Lady Freethinker is celebrating major progress for dogs and cats in Sulawesi, Indonesia, through PROJECT Sulawesi – an initiative founded and led by Lady Freethinker to tackle rabies and the brutal dog and cat meat trade as interconnected issues. More than 50,000 rabies vaccine doses have already been distributed, while new regulations and enforcement measures are helping protect dogs and cats from the meat trade. Thanks to your support, thousands of dogs and cats are being protected from disease, theft, trafficking, and slaughter.
For decades, thousands of dogs and cats have been stolen or captured for the meat trade on the island of Sulawesi. Limited access to rabies vaccines and reliable information can fuel fears that dogs may carry rabies – a disease that is fatal to both people and animals once symptoms appear. This fear can weaken the bond between people and animals, leaving dogs more vulnerable to abandonment, theft, and exploitation by traders.
And the risk is very real: Lady Freethinker-funded polling found that more than half of dog guardians surveyed in Gorontalo had experienced dog theft, often more than once. These stolen dogs become victims of the cruel, profit-driven meat trade – transported over long distances in cramped and overcrowded conditions before being brutally slaughtered at markets and slaughterhouses.
But vaccinating dogs can tackle rabies at its source, protecting both animals and the people who live alongside them.
This is why PROJECT Sulawesi takes a holistic approach, working with our local partners and provincial governments to protect dogs and communities from rabies while tackling the dog and cat meat trade.
Ending the trade not only saves dogs and cats from immense cruelty; it is also critical to eliminating rabies. Moving dogs with unknown vaccination or disease status across provincial borders and removing vaccinated dogs from communities can undermine the vaccination coverage needed to stop the disease from spreading.
Our agreement with the government of Gorontalo puts this approach into action: working together to secure and enforce regulations prohibiting the dog and cat meat trade, while vaccinating over 70% of the dog population – the level needed to control the spread of rabies.
And people in Gorontalo want this change: Lady Freethinker-funded polling found that support for ending the dog and cat meat trade averaged an overwhelming 96% among surveyed dog guardians and those who don’t have dogs.
Vaccination teams are now reaching communities across Gorontalo, while checkpoints at provincial borders enforce new regulations, stopping dogs from being trafficked to North Sulawesi’s markets and slaughterhouses.
What You’re Making Possible
- New regulations secured to combat the dog and cat meat trade
- 6 checkpoints established and operating 24/7
- 2 provincial government partnerships established
- 50,000+ rabies vaccine doses distributed
- 100+ vaccinators mobilized
- Thousands of educational leaflets distributed
- 100+ awareness banners and billboards installed
- Cross-border collaboration established between Central Sulawesi and Gorontalo
- Hundreds of dogs intercepted at provincial borders
Stopping The Trucks
Working with government authorities, we are helping enforce the new regulations at provincial borders along key trafficking routes towards North Sulawesi, home to the island’s largest live-animal markets and greatest demand for dog and cat meat. Hundreds of dogs being trafficked towards markets and slaughterhouses have already been stopped at these borders, disrupting the trade and sending a clear message to traders.
But much more remains to be done. There is now a real opportunity to build on this progress across Sulawesi. We want to reach more dogs with vaccination, help more communities protect their animals, strengthen enforcement, close trafficking routes, and secure stronger protections across the island. Our ultimate goal is to end the dog and cat meat trade in Sulawesi.
The progress so far shows that change is possible. With your support, we can keep protecting the dogs and cats of Sulawesi from rabies and the brutality of the meat trade.
