Indonesia's dog-eating community is feeling under siege.

An order by Jakarta's governor to investigate dog meat sales in a view to begin to regulate the trade has inspectors trawling through restaurants across the capital.

There is no regulation on dog meat consumption in Indonesia and it is a popular cuisine among some communities around the country, particularly in Jakarta.

But Jakarta's governor, Ahok, has ordered an investigation amid concern the movement of dogs across internal borders could see the spread of disease such as rabies.

At the Pasar Senen market in central Jakarta, a busy hole-in-the-wall-style restaurant sells dog curry.

"I use lemongrass, galanga (ginger), basil, red onion — that's it. Then it's sautéed until it becomes softer," Rosline, the chef, said.

The restaurant owner Manuasa is offended by the visit from some Livestock Jakarta employees, who have come to quiz him about how and from where he is sourcing the dog meat.

"They asked me where does the dog come from and whether it carries disease and I said, 'I have been eating this since I was little, our ancestors ate it, but they didn't get sick'," he said.

"We only eat one kind of dog.

"We don't eat pet dogs or police dogs, only street dogs, that are taken care of well and are clean."

But how does Manuasa know the dogs he eats and serves up to his customers are disease-free?

"We could see the dog being cut," Manuasa said.

"We could see if the dog is clean or not, we don't buy the dirty one. I saw it being cut, I often killed it myself."

Regulation of dog meat 'very sensitive'

The livestock inspectors said the dogs are sourced from a location nearby, although there is no slaughterhouse.

Sri Hartari, a Jakarta food inspector, meets chefs while making the rounds at Pesar Senen market. ( ABC News: Samantha Hawley )

Sri Hartari is the chief inspector making the rounds through the Pasar Senen market.

"We want to keep Jakarta rabies-free — we have been free from Rabies since 2004," she said.

But when pushed on whether the sale of dog meat should be regulated, she was cautious with her words.

"I cannot say anything, this is very sensitive," she said.

"Consuming dog meat is in some cultures here so we have to be very careful. We are not legalising or banning it, we are still thinking, how to avoid rabies, we need further thoughts on it."

Dogs transferred 'piled up on each other'

Karin Frankem, from Jakarta Animal Aid Network, has investigated the dog meat trade for the past 18 months.

She said most of the dogs for consumption come from Java and then are moved around the country in their thousands in horrible conditions.

"These trucks go from city to city and they transfer 40 to 50 dogs at one time, they're all piled up on each other," she said.

"When they arrive at a location, for example Jogja (Jogjakarta), Solo or Jakarta, some dogs are dead, some are still alive, it really is quite shocking."

But she said dog meat is popular, so the campaign to have it banned needs to move slowly.

"We need to be patient also because we have just started this campaign about a year ago and we need to continue to look for data and communicate with the Government about why we have to stop the dog meat trade," Ms Frankem said.

For Jakarta's mayor, this has to be a softly-softly approach, because convincing dog meat lovers that regulation is needed will be an uphill battle.