The dogs fighting wild boars in illegal pits in Indonesia, and the activist trying to put a stop to it
Villagers in West Java defend pitting dogs against boars in crude arenas as training for hunts and part of community tradition. Our correspondent witnesses disturbing scenes and talks to dog breeders who’ve quit the sport
It takes weeks of messaging and meetings before someone agrees to take us to a dugong pit. Short for adu bagong – or wild boar fighting – dugong is popular in rural parts of Indonesia’s West Java province, where dog owners pay for the chance to let their animals attack a wild boar inside an arena.
For some, the sport is training for their hunting dogs. Others take part purely for entertainment.
Animal rights activists launched a campaign to stop the practice last year, persuading provincial governor Ahmad Heryawan to issue a letter reminding local officials that cruelty to animals is forbidden under Indonesian law, but leaving enforcement to mayors and regents.
Typically in Indonesia, instructions from on high do not necessarily trickle down to rural backwaters. Some arenas close to Bandung, the provincial capital, have shut down. Further afield, others continue to host weekly fights but keep a low profile, trying to avoid the media glare.
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Toto agrees to meet at a service station in Sumedang town on a recent Sunday morning. In his late thirties, with a cartoon pit bull tattoo on his calf and wearing a red baseball cap backwards, Toto says he has been involved with dugong since childhood. He jumps into the back seat of the car and directs us to a village arena about an hour out of town.
