Bali to continue anti-rabies dog cull as gory video emerges

Among the white sandy beaches, luxury villas and temples, authorities on the Indonesian island of Bali are carrying out mass culls of dogs in an anti-rabies campaign, an official confirmed Sunday. Despite a stomach-churning 16-minute video posted on YouTube of a mass slaughter that has prompted outrage from animal welfare groups, Bali Animal Husbandry Department chief Putu Sumantra said there were no plans to end the practice.

The dogs culled were smuggled illegally. When that happens, we try to find the owners to return them, and ensure they are vaccinated. But if they have no owners, we have to cull them.

Bali Animal Husbandry Department chief, Putu Sumantra

The disturbing footage shows more than 30 dogs squealing before they are given lethal injections to the heart and piled on top of each other as they convulse to their deaths. Although the footage was first posted in April, a repost this week sent the video viral, with 40,000 views in three days. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) strongly condemned the “inhumane slaughter”. Since 2008, 147 people have died after contracting rabies on Bali, but the numbers have declined rapidly over the years, with 10 deaths reported since 2012.

Local animal welfare groups have run successful vaccination programmes and the number of humans becoming infected with rabies has fallen dramatically.

PETA statement to AFP