Cabinet Has NOT Decided to Export Street Dogs for Meat!

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A controversial statement, falsely attributed to Minister of Health Nalinda Jayatissa, regarding street dogs, has recently gone viral on social media circles. Let’s look at the claim first.

Social Media Posts:

A social media post circulated in English, indicating that Cabinet approval had been given to export street dogs out of Sri Lanka, and that only countries engaging in the dog meat trade would be allowed to purchase them.

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Another social media post, along with a photo of Nalinda Jayatissa, stated “Rs. 100 million will be spent to eradicate street dogs from the country- Health Minister Nalinda Jayatissa is determined”. Some people were misled into believing that eradication refers to killing.

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This post was also shared on Instagram. Archived Link

Let’s look at the facts.

Fact Check :

There is no cabinet decision regarding the export of street dogs from Sri Lanka

Local media channels often give prominence to sensitive news, particularly when it involves reports of animal cruelty.  Accordingly, if the Minister had decided to export street dogs for meat or issued a statement that Rs. 100 million would be spent to eradicate street dogs from the country, such news should have been broadcast through media channels. However, although we checked whether such news had been published, we did not observe any such news.  We observed that even during the announcement of cabinet decisions, the Minister did not state such a decision.

Discussion in Parliament regarding street dogs.

Upon further investigation, it was observed that earlier in the year, in February, the Minister of Health made a statement in Parliament, which included data on dog bite attacks. 

Responding to a question asked by MP Imran Maharoof, the Minister stated that between January 1 and December 31, 2024, approximately 184,926 people received treatment for dog bites, and the government had spent Rs. 850 million to Rs. 1,000 million on treatment (including vaccination) for dog bites. The Minister further stated that the highest number of dog bites was reported from the Gampaha district last year. Meanwhile, despite expressing his views on the measures already taken to resolve the problem and the measures to be taken in the future, the Minister did not make any statement that Rs. 100 million has been allocated to eradicate street dogs from the country or to export them. The minister also stated that the Ministry has identified dog bites as a problem and is implementing special interventions to address it. Accordingly, a special program, including dog euthanasia, vaccination, and administering rabies vaccinations to people who have been bitten, is expected to be launched in March.  

You can refer to some news articles published regarding it here and here. 

Media Secretary to the Minister of Health

Meanwhile, we inquired with the Media Secretary of the Minister of Health, Mr Nalinda Jayatissa, regarding the news circulating on social media. He states that the Minister has never made such a statement and that no cabinet decision has been taken regarding it. He also noted that this is a false post created with the intention of deceiving the public.

Furthermore, we also took the views of voluntary organizations dedicated to animal welfare regarding the recent posts that are circulating.

Veterinarian Chamith Nanayakkara- Association of Veterinarians for Humane Management of Animal Population 

We inquired with Veterinarian Chamith Nanayakkara, founder of the Veterinary Alliance for Humane Animal Population Management, about these posts. He mentioned that the circulating posts are false. He also stated that animal welfare organizations, including himself, had previously requested the government to formulate a national policy for animal population management, however, no steps had been taken to develop such a policy so far. He said that in such an environment, some people are spreading propaganda against the government, such as that the government is preparing to kill animals. In the absence of a proper policy on animal population management, misinformation is spreading rapidly through social media platforms.

“The Ministry of Health has allocated money for animal population management. 200 million. The Ministry of Health itself has not yet completed the sterilization operations. This is not a problem for politicians. It is a problem of officials.”

Accordingly, Veterinarian Dr Nanayakkara emphasized the need to formulate a national policy on animal population management with the support of all parties, and stated that if a national policy is formulated and the country’s people are informed about the mechanism for implementing it, such false propaganda will not occur.

The veterinarian emphasized that his organization also recognizes that the increase in the number of street dogs is leading to rise in accidents and rabies cases, and that permanent solutions are needed for this.

He further stated that the Association of Veterinarians for Humane Management of Animal Population consistently advocates up for animals and that his organization will support the government in making informed decisions for animals, and is also prepared to provide maximum support to the government in formulating a national policy on animal population management.

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Conclusion :

Our investigation reveals that the social media post claiming that Rs. 100 million will be spent to eradicate street dogs from the country or that Health Minister Nalinda Jayatissa is determined to export dogs for meat is false. The Minister has never made such a statement, and this is a misleading social media post created using a fake Facebook post format from a news website.