The Christmas season this year brought an unexpected gift to more than three dozen dog meat dealers in Mali, West Africa — the start to a more compassionate career through raising crops instead, thanks to an initiative by Lady Freethinker and local partners ARAF-Plateau Dogon.
Jobs are scarce in Africa, driving many people struggling to survive to round up, gather, and slaughter stray and unwanted dogs for their meat.
The brutal industry kills more than 65,000 dogs in the country each year, according to estimates from ARAF, a nonprofit dedicated to animal welfare initiatives and empowering women in rural communities.
(Image Courtesy of ARAF-Plateau Dogon)
This year, 37 former traders of dog meat agreed to switch their livelihoods to growing crops through a partnership involving site-specific help from ARAF and a generous grant from Lady Freethinker.
The partnership equipped the former dog dealers with water pumps and a hectare of land to grow a variety of tubers, vegetables, and small fruit trees. Varieties include potatoes, cassava, onions, salad greens, tomatoes, peppers, beans, eggplants, and papaya, banana, guava, and grenadine trees.
Abdoulaye Coulibaly, a Malian resident who made the switch, had already established 111 “rectangles” of crops by Christmas Eve, when ARAF-Plateau Dogon paid him a visit to see how his gardens were growing.
(Image Courtesy of ARAF-Plateau Dogon)
Coulibaly told ARAF the new lifestyle was “satisfactory.” The crops were netting him around 555,000 West African CFA francs per month — the equivalent of about $1,038 in U.S. dollars — in a country where many residents make less than one U.S. dollar per day.
ARAF said other farmers estimate earning about 5,000 to 6,000 CFAs for each rectangle of salad they have planted.
“The beneficiaries addressed their thanks to ARAF-Plateau Dogon and its partner Lady Freethinker,” ARAF said in a recent Facebook post. “They wish everyone a Merry Christmas!”
The partnership will allow the farmers to become ambassadors for dog welfare and to continue their more compassionate careers for at least two years — an effort expected to save more than 130,000 dogs.
Lady Freethinker is proud to be a part of this program, a big step toward ending the dog meat trade in Mali.
A partnership between ARAF-Plateau Dogon and Lady Freethinker connected former dog meat dealers in Mali to water pumps and other materials needed to shift to crop-based careers.
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Wonderful news
Wonderful news
Lets hope these previous ‘dog killers’ do NOT revert back to their old ways when they get fed-up working honestly for a living.
This is a wonderful programme.
More HANDOUTS, to keep these SOB’S from torturing/killing animals.They never, even do anything for themselves.
This is what we should do with animal “farmers” in America. Show them how to transition to plant crops instead of torturing and slaughtering animals. Some say we should go with hemp farms in eastern NC which has terrific soil for hemp. But whatever plant crop is chosen, it would be an absolute win for animals, the environment, and human health.
I understand the people need money but no one ever has the right to cause such harm to dogs. Be that as it may i am happy the 37 men here made a switch and i wish them well.
This is wonderful but it’s only for TWO YEARS???
Why wouldn’t it be their occupation for the remainder of their lifetime?
Nina,
It’s great to see that 37 former traders of dog meat in Mali are now farming their own crops. Now that more dogs aren’t going to succumb to horrific deaths, is there a plan to spay/neuter the animals in order to prevent overpopulation? I hope there is a group working on this issue.
Phil
I’m so thankful to LFT and all involved in the life changing of so many men and women for a compassionate living. And yet in all my hope in less atrocities being done to our friends the dogs, I still think sadly of those who have perished before them.