Dealers in dog meat at
the Ushafa Bridge in Bwari, FCT, say that media reports about people who died from consuming dog meat and local gin will not deter them from doing their business.
The traders spoke in separate interviews with our correspondent yesterday in Bwari.
The tragedy was said to have happened in Woji Obio/Akpor council area in Rivers State.
One of the dealers, Mr Naboth Zachariah, told our correspondent he had never received any complaint from his customers since he started the business in 2013.
Zachariah, who hails from Kaduna State, said although the story generated anxiety and apprehension among people in the community, he was bent on continuing with the business.
“The story is not affecting me; people buy dog meat every time; they said it was due to the spirit ‘ogogoro’; I think that is what killed them.
“So, it is not that dog normally has anything; because I have been selling it here for a while and nobody complained to me about sickness.
“I buy it; I kill and sell it every day; sometimes we sell up to five dogs every day.
“The other people have already finished selling theirs; it is because I did not kill mine early today that my product has not finished.”
Another bush meat seller, Mrs Esther Emmanuel, expressed optimism that the dog meat story would not affect her business.
According to her, the dog meat story is similar to the Ebola Virus Disease outbreak.
She, however, said that she would continue with her bush meat business.
“I sell bush meat; I don’t know about dog meat; but during the Ebola regime, people were deceived to think it will kill them when they eat the meat. We still sell bush meat; I still sell now the way I used to sell the meat before.
“The business is moving I sell all my products in a day; I will buy another one and cook it to sell.
“The business mostly thrives on Saturdays and Sundays as against week days.”
She, however, advised people to always examine bush meat they buy before consumption, to avoid health complications.
According to her, such complications often occurred through the consumption of animals that died from poisoning.
“Therefore, people need to be cautious before eating them,’’ she said.
According to her, the regular demolition of the bush meat spot is the only challenge to the growth of the business in the area.
She, therefore, appealed to the Bwari Area Council authority to build a befitting market where people could legitimately engage in bush meat and dog meat trade, in order to attract fun seekers and promote business growth.