Africa-Press – Lesotho. IF you are in Semphetenyane, a village on the outskirts of Maseru, there is a slight likelihood that you might have unknowingly tasted dog meat. Liteboho Lepheane, 44, swears with his life that dog meat is a delicacy, much to the irritation of the community that sees his venture as an abomination and an assault on the community’s values.
The villagers turned against Lepheane last week, beating him thoroughly, after he allegedly sold them dog meat under the guise that it was goat meat. Lepheane denies selling dog meat insisting a friend of his who was staying in the same compound with him had misrepresented facts when he sold the meat to some men who were drinking in the village.
He however does not deny that he eats dog meat, which he calls a delicacy that has several health benefits. The angry community drove the two men to the local chief who dragged them to the police in Lithoteng.
“Men were the ones who were beating us up while women were watching,” Lepheane told thepost this week.
After some interrogation, the police released the two saying the duo had not violated any law. “I told the police that I did not have any intention of selling dog meat,” Lepheane said. He said it was his co-accused who had sold the dog offals to unsuspecting villagers after misrepresenting that it was goat meat.
Lepheane said the police told them that they should have been open about their business venture by informing people that this was dog meat so that they could make an informed choice whether to buy it or not.
Lepheane said he was approached by his co-accused asking for dog’s offal. “I gave them to him,” he said. He said the man left with the offal to a nearby homebrewed beer house where one of the patrons asked for meat and he sold it to him for M50 a set.
“He lied to the buyer that it was goat meat,” Lepheane said.
“That was where he erred,” he said. He says after the buyer bought the meat and left, people in the bar began to ask if it was dog’s offal.
“The offal had already been cooked and eaten,” he said.
“People enjoyed them and did not have any problems.
” What triggered the furore was when the news reached the buyer that he had bought dog meat. Lepheane insisted that he has always enjoyed dog meat which he said tastes just like goat meat.
Last week, he slaughtered his dog in full view of the community because he said he had nothing to hide. “I killed my white dog to feed myself,” he said.
“I killed it in broad daylight”.
“I cut some pieces to do a braai while still letting it thaw,” he said.
Lepheane, who is separated from his wife, said this was not the first time that he had slaughtered and ate his dogs. His three children, however, do not eat dog meat.
He insisted that there were others in the village who also eat dog meat but do not want to go public about it. “Every time I have dog meat, they usually want to come and taste it,” Lepheane said.
He defends the eating of dog meat which he said tastes just like goat and sheep. The only difference is that dogs have more fat, he said. He said he started eating dogs when he was working at a farm in Eastern Cape in South Africa in 2005.
He said he ate a jackal and then realised that there was no difference between a dog and a jackal. “They are of the same species,” he said. Lepheane said dog meat is soft and does not stick between the teeth.
He also thinks that dog meat boosts immunity. He said ever since he started eating dog meat, he has not been falling sick as he used to. Even during harsh weathers, he does not panic because he knows that his body is fit.
“A dog does not have stress and I also do not have any,” he says.
“I am not ashamed that I eat dog meat,” he says.
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