Dog meat a delicacy in Yogya

Dog meat a delicacy in Yogya

Gigin Kurniawan, Contributor, Yogyakarta

The Special Region of Yogyakarta deserves to be called an area of
sengsu (a dish prepared with cabbage and dog meat). Foodstalls
selling this particular dish are ubiquitous.

Among its lovers, this dish is also known by its euphemistic
name, medicinal skewered meat as dog meat is believed to possess
tonic properties.

Foodstalls may sell this dish openly or covertly. In the case
of the former, the stall will label it B1, to refer to dog meat
or B2, to refer to pork. Many foodstalls, however, do not use any
labeling at all.

Sengsu foodstalls are found not only in the city of Yogyakarta
but also in remote villages in Bantul, Sleman, Kulonprogo and
Gunungkidul regencies. In the city of Yogyakarta, sengsu food
vendors are found in several places such as the area around
Umbulharjo bus terminal, Jl. Magelang, Jl. AM Sangaji, at Terban
market and near Yogyakarta State University campus.

Even at Jl. Malioboro and Jl. Jend. Sudirman you can find
"Toba Nauli", a foodstall owned by a North Sumatran and selling
sangsang, which is the Batak name for sengsu. In the Gowongan and
Demangan areas, you can find a "Kawanua" foodstall, which offers
North Sulawesi dishes, including dog meat rica-rica.

Although sengsu foodstalls are spread in many places in
Yogyakarta, Bantul regency may boast the greatest number of such
foodstalls across the province. Bantul has about 70 sengsu
foodstalls spread across almost all of its districts.

The great number of sengsu foodstalls has drawn the attention
of Uminto Giring Wibowo, chairman of Commission C of Bantul
legislative assembly. A member of the Indonesian Democratic Party
of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), he has proposed that Bantul regency
administration issue a bylaw on dog slaughter.

He said a dog-slaughtering business could financially
contribute to the coffers of Bantul regency administration. He
proposed that every dog slaughtered should be subject to a fee of
Rp 1,500. If 1,000 dogs were slaughtered every day, the regency
administration could earn Rp 1.5 million per day.

"That income would be sufficient," he added.

Uminto also said that his data showed that a major sengsu
foodstall owner slaughters an average of 15 dogs per day. "If the
regency has some 70 foodstalls selling sengsu, more than 1,000
dogs are killed every day," he stressed.

This proposal has led to debate among the councillors. Those
against this proposal argue that Muslims are not allowed to eat
dog meat.

Uminto, however, did not proceed with his proposal. He said he
was under some pressure from fellow councillors and also from the
central board of his party in Jakarta. He was told that this
matter was a sensitive issue.

Regardless of the pros and cons, the dog meat business is now
quite lucrative. Those slaughtered are usually mongrels, not
purebred dogs. The supply of mongrels comes from regencies
outside Yogyakarta.

The price of a mongrel varies, depending on its size. A small
dog weighing some 6 kilograms (kg) costs Rp 35,000 to Rp 40,000.
Larger ones (12 kg to 20 kg) are obtainable at Rp 50,000 to Rp
80,000. Dog meat costs Rp 10,000 to Rp 12,000 per kg. A helping
of sengsu plus rice cost Rp 3,500 to Rp 4,000.

At first, sengsu was popular only among people from outside
Java who lived in Yogyakarta. Today, however, even indigenous
residents of Yogyakarta like this dish. That's why sengsu
foodstalls are found even in the remotest villages.

"Many people believe that you'll get stronger after eating
sengsu," said Maryadi (45), a sengsu vendor in Madukismo, Bantul.

It is interesting to note that to double the tonic property
and attractiveness of sengsu, these unfortunate mongrels are not
slaughtered conventionally.

"If a dog is slaughtered in the normal way, blood will ooze
out. Dog meat is more delicious if the blood is not spilled,"
said Jumanto, 41, a mongrel butcher residing in Bambanglipuro,
Bantul.