The governor of the Indonesian capital has signed a law banning the consumption of animals that carry rabies, such as dogs or cats, within six months.

Animal rights activists' lobbying has finally paid off in Indonesia. At least in the country's capital, Jakarta, which will ban the consumption of meat from dogs, cats, and other animals that carry rabies within six months.

The news comes from Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung himself, who announced that he signed the law on Monday aimed at ending the trade in cat, dog, and bat meat in the city. This law "prohibits the sale of rabies-carrying animals for food purposes, whether live, as meat, or as other products, raw or processed," he stated. The law does, however, include a six-month transition period before the ban takes effect.

"To make Indonesia a just and civilized nation"

This decision was welcomed by animal rights advocates, who called it a step in the right direction. "This policy is in line with the mandate of the Constitution, which aims to protect all Indonesians and make Indonesia a just and civilized nation," said the animal rights group Dog Meat Free Indonesia (DMFI) on Tuesday.

Indonesia is one of the few countries that still allows the sale of dog and cat meat, but a campaign against this practice is gaining momentum. Some cities, including Semarang in central Java, have imposed local bans on this trade in recent years.

Although dogs are generally considered unclean animals and rarely kept as pets in Indonesia, their meat remains a delicacy in some communities. A source of cheap protein, dog meat is also consumed in several other Asian countries.