More than 13,000 dogs are allegedly being slaughtered every month in the Indonesian city of Solo to meet local demand for the animal's meat.

Key points: Dogs eaten in Indonesia are often family pets stolen, then butchered cruelly and unhygienically

Dogs eaten in Indonesia are often family pets stolen, then butchered cruelly and unhygienically Campaigners say the dog meat trade poses major public health risks

Campaigners say the dog meat trade poses major public health risks Bali's Governor and other local officials have cracked down on the trade

A recent investigation by the Dog Meat Free Indonesia (DMFI) coalition of campaigners found about 200 street vendors and restaurants in the sleepy Central Javanese city were selling dog meat.

Servings typically sold for Rp18,000–20,000 ($2).

"This city of Solo is really crazy about selling dog meat," a representative of DMFI, Mustika, who is only known by his first name, told the ABC.

"All selling is blatant. Their banners are big, have pictures of dogs and it is written on the menu."

In response to media coverage of the investigation, the city of Solo said it was drafting legislation for a ban on the sale of dog meat, which was expected to come into effect next year.

Solo dog meat sellers are bold in their branding, despite Muslims being against the practice. ( Supplied: Dog Meat Free Indonesia )

"We have monitored places used for slaughtering dogs," Wenny Ekayanti, a spokesperson for the city's agricultural department, told the ABC.

"But we cannot act because dogs aren't considered livestock under the law."

In the meantime, Solo remains the "city of hell for dogs", Mustika said.

Celebrities support ending dog meat consumption

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While only an estimated 7 per cent of the Indonesian population consumes dog meat, animal rights advocates claim up to a million dogs are killed annually across the archipelago.

And an estimated 30 million dogs are killed every year across Asia for human consumption.

Many people believe unsubstantiated claims that dog meat provides special health benefits, including boosting men's sexual vitality.

In 2017 Dog Meat Free Indonesia launched a campaign, fronted by British comedian Ricky Gervais, to end dog meat consumption.

It called for the Indonesian Government to ban the sale and consumption of the meat on animal cruelty and public health grounds.

Other celebrities like Cameron Diaz, Simon Cowell and Ellen DeGeneres have also called for an end to the trade.

Campaigners say dogs are typically caught, transported, killed and butchered in unhygienic ways. ( Supplied: Animals Australia )

Unlike the farming of chickens or goats, the production of dog meat is clandestine and unregulated in Indonesia, meaning the animals killed for consumption are often stolen household pets which are slaughtered and butchered in unhygienic circumstances.

"Dogs are captured from the streets and stolen from people's homes to be taken on long journeys — often lasting for days — tightly packed in pick-up trucks or in hessian sacks, their mouths bound shut so they can hardly breathe," Lola Webber, a spokeswoman for the Change for Animals Foundation, said.

"They are then taken to filthy slaughterhouses where they watch others being slaughtered as they wait their turn, trembling in fear."

"The look in their eyes is haunting, the blood-spattered walls unforgettable."

'A public health emergency'

DMFI says action being taken in Karanganyar will save almost 2,000 dogs each month from slaughter. ( Supplied: Dog Meat Free Indonesia )

It is illegal under Indonesian law to transport animals into areas that have been declared rabies-free, such as Jakarta.

But activists claim many of the dogs sold in Central Java are transported from West Java — a province that is still infected by rabies.

Research from 2015 cited by the Indonesian Agriculture Ministry claims 730,000 dogs entered Jakarta from West Java annually, posing a major health risk to the Indonesian capital.

Jill Robinson, founder of animal welfare group Animals Asia, said it was "time to finally wake up to the true cost of the dog meat trade".

"It is a public health emergency directly responsible for thousands of deaths every year due to the spread of rabies," she said.

"No meal is worth so many innocent lives."

Widyawati Rokom, a spokeswoman for the Indonesian Health Ministry, told the ABC "rabies transmission occurs through dog saliva that enters the human body through bites or scratches … which can happen when live dogs are slaughtered".

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"Until now Central Java and the city of Solo have been declared rabies-free by the ministry," she said.

"No cases have been reported at this time related to rabies."

A petition started by DMFI calling on the Government to "ban the trade in and slaughtering of dogs, and consumption of dog meat throughout Indonesia" has thus far attracted more than 1 million signatures.

Its scrutiny of the trade has enjoyed recent success at the local level, with the district authorities of Karanganyar near Solo recently passing an action plan to end the trade by forcibly closing all 21 local stalls that sell the meat.

Local Mayor Juliyatmono said the decision was made to prevent disease and "so humans can co-exist in harmony with the environment and all living creatures".

Angelina Pane, a spokeswoman for Animal Friends Jogja, congratulated Karanganyar's Government for "addressing these grave concerns for the sake of public and animal health and safety", and called on "those in power to take action nationwide".

"Promises have been made but we need to see programs to end the trade implemented nationwide to protect our communities and animals," she said.

Consumption of dog meat forbidden in Islam

Despite being considered forbidden in Islam, dog meat can easily be purchased in many parts of Indonesia. ( Supplied: Animals Australia )

The DMFI campaign has also sought to appeal to religious sentiments in the world's largest Muslim-majority country, where dogs are generally considered impure.

"Eating and also the selling of dogs is haram and strictly forbidden," M Nurul Irfan, a lecturer at the State Islamic University in Jakarta, said.

"Muslims who think otherwise should be corrected immediately because we don't want others to also start thinking it's OK."

Syamsu Ma'arif, director of veterinary public health at Indonesia's Agriculture Ministry, said last year the ministry was drafting regulations to outlaw the trade of dog meat.

"[Dog meat] is not food according to our food law," he told Reuters.

At the Tomohon market in Sulawesi, known locally as the "extreme" market, buyers can purchase dog, cat and snake meat. ( Supplied: Dog Meat Free Indonesia )

In 2017, an investigation by the ABC's 7.30 program revealed Australian tourists were unwittingly eating dog meat in Bali, with some satay sellers claiming dog meat was chicken.

The reporting saw the Governor of Bali declare a crackdown against the trade to protect the island's tourist economy.

At the time, Governor Made Mangku Pastika told his local authorities to "order against the sale of dog meat because it is not inspected and guaranteed to be healthy and can potentially spread zoonotic diseases, especially rabies and other fatal dangers".