Cambodia holds job fair regularly to publicize opportunities for people looking for employment. Trade fair is also a frequent event to promote local and imported goods. So is book fair to encourage reading. But lately there was a new kind of fair – pet fair – to promote bond between humans and their furry companions.

Petfair Cambodia – held in August – was the first of its kind to showcase products and services targeting pet enthusiasts, namely dog lovers in the kingdom. Billed as a business event, it also reflected a shift in the attitude among Cambodians to embracing pets as part of the family in a country where canines are regularly slaughtered and cooked for food.

“People having dogs on their bikes, walking dogs on the street – you see it everywhere now. I didn’t see this nine years ago when I arrived Cambodia,” Jennifer Cartmill said while manning her booth at the fair. An Australian, she is the CEO of Paw Patrol Cambodia, a volunteer animal rescue center in Siem Reap province.

“Nowadays, people never think of their pets as just ‘pets’, they consider their pets as their family members, and raise them like their own children,” said Vann Vinatt, manager of Pet Partner SHIRO, a pet grooming service.

Phum Chanvirakboth, a university student, has two dogs that he adopted a year ago. He said it is “a beautiful routine” to wake up every morning to his dogs wagging their tails and waiting for him at his room’s door. He never skips an evening to walk them to release stress. He said raising them is not easy as they demand constant care and attention, but “in this digital world” they help keep his family together.

“I think our dogs provide a unique form of affection to our family in this digital era, where most people are often holding their phones even during meals,” said Chanvirakboth, 20.

“Whenever I play with my dogs, other family members would join me as well. This creates a chance for us to chit chat and spend some good time together, and it brings us closer to each other,” he added.

Booming pet business

“Cambodia’s pet industry is in its early stages, but we see great potential for growth,” Rosie Tran, Head of Projects at VEAS, a Vietnam-based firm that organized Petfair Cambodia, said, calling the event the first of its kind ever held in the country.

Young people are credited with driving the trend. According to pet industry insiders interviewed, young people’s interests in pets have fueled a greater demand for pet supplies and services that were previously thought to be only for the needs of foreign pet owners living in Cambodia.

From a few pet clinics and stores a few years ago, the industry has grown to include pet café, pet spa, pet grooming, pet boarding, pet relocation, pet microchip registration, and more.

“There were no proper veterinary facilities in Cambodia at all. There was only one pet shop five years ago. Now vet clinics are opening on every corner and the same with pet shops,” said Yulia Khouri, founder of the veterinary hospital Animal Mama.

“I believe pet market growth is of course due to economic growth of the country and certainly due to growing middle-class, educated young families who are financially capable and intellectually progressive to welcome pets as part of their families,” Ms. Khouri said.

Donabelle Z Weisser, Co-founder of Pet Services Cambodia, said the pet market wasn’t very competitive at all when she arrived in Cambodia 11 years ago.

“In comparison to the last five years, I would say there had not been more than 10 players in the market, but now the number of pet stores and pet businesses have definitely been increased,” said Ms. Weisser. “Before our business used to be expat-oriented but now it’s a mixture of both Cambodians and expats.”

“For us, the most popular services are grooming, pet food, and relocation service, and we do have more Cambodian customers who come to use our pet relocation service,” she said.

“I’m so thrilled that the Cambodian community is embracing looking after their pet so well,” said Ms. Wisser. “People who own pets are more conscious of keeping them clean, keeping them vaccinated, and getting them groomed on time.”

Calling for dog meat ban

Oeng Sobuntha, a teaching assistant in Siem Reap province, has a dog named Jek. She said she bought it for 60,000 riels (US$15) from a man just before he was about to slaughter and cook it for a party.

“It was only a puppy about three or four months old. It might have been stolen from its loving family,” Sobuntha recalled. “I was extremely touched seeing it, so I asked the man to spare his life.”

In 2020, Siem Reap, Cambodia’s main tourist destination, became the first province to impose a total ban on dog meat trade. Since then, calls for a nationwide ban of dog meat consumption have grown louder.

Early this year, Heng Ratana, director-general of Cambodia Mine Action Center (CMAC), where mine-sniffing dogs work alongside their human handlers to save lives, said he was horrified after seeing a video on social media showing a group of Cambodian women cooking and eating dog meat. In a Facebook post, he said it was time for Cambodia to pass a law banning dog meat consumption, adding that “at CMAC, dogs are loyal and skilled colleagues who help save human lives, especially our citizens from the menace of land mines left over from the civil war.”

People who eat dog meat do so simply because the meat is perceived to have an appealing taste and be affordable, according to “A Summary Report on Dog Meat Consumption in Cambodia” that was released in 2020. The research was conducted by Market Strategy and Development Co, Ltd.

The report said the interviewees had cited several reasons for eating dog meat, one of them being a perceived medicinal benefit. But the top reason is the meat’s “relatively cheap cost – it costs approximately 5,000 KHR ($1.25) for a dish compared to beef at 10,000 KHR ($2.50)” the report said.    

In Siem Reap province, the dog meat ban has forced the traders into underground, according to Cartmill of the Paw Patrol Cambodia. In the capital Phnom Penh, meanwhile, sales of dog meat can still be spotted at road-side stalls, especially in neighborhoods on the city’s outskirts.

Cartmill recalled an instance when she joined local villagers and police in rescuing 60 dogs in a truck on its way to, most likely, a slaughter house. She said sometimes she also helped pay out of her own pocket for the treatment of sick dogs because their owners, often poor villagers, didn’t have the money.

Although dog meat trade hasn’t vanished, she said “things are getting better and better” for the canines in Cambodia because of the change in people’s views about them.

Ron Mab, a veterinary doctor in Phnom Penh, agreed.

“I’m thrilled to see an unfolding change in the country’s attitude towards animals. I hope that the old culture will eventually shift, with every town and province officially outlawing traders and anybody who harms pets,” he said.

NOTE: This story was produced by ‘Batch 22’ student of the Department of Media and Communication (DMC), Royal University of Phnom Penh.