Kakamega man busted feasting on roasted neighbours' dogs

The suspect had prepared a substantial meal. There was soup, meat and a large sufuria of ugali in his house. [Benard Lusigi, Standard]

Residents of Munge village in Mautuma Ward, Lugari Constituency, Kakamega County, have been left stunned after a 32-year-old man was allegedly caught preparing a meal of dog meat, with his neighbour accusing him of stealing and eating six of his dogs.

The bizarre incident has sparked fear and outrage in the village, with residents questioning how the animals disappeared one after another before the alleged discovery of their fate.

For Dan Kalamu, the disappearance of his dogs had become a distressing mystery. The animals, he said, began vanishing one by one after one of his dogs gave birth to seven puppies.

He said he repeatedly searched for the missing animals but could not establish what had happened to them until he received startling news that his neighbour had allegedly been caught eating dog meat.

“I had my dogs, and one of them gave birth to seven puppies. Then I started noticing that one dog was disappearing after another. Every day I went home, I would find one missing. I kept asking myself where they were going,” Kalamu said.

The mystery took a dramatic turn on a recent night when Kalamu returned home at about 10pm after attending a funeral in the neighbourhood.

He said he found a crowd gathered in the area and was informed that a man had allegedly been found preparing dog meat over a fire.

“I went into the house myself and confirmed that the dog was mine. I was shocked. These are things you hear about on television or on the radio, but I never imagined that something like this could happen here in Munge,” he said.

Kalamu said the suspect admitted to having stolen the dogs when put to task by irate villagers.

The discovery has turned a series of unexplained disappearances into a disturbing neighbourhood incident, leaving Kalamu devastated and other residents demanding intervention from the authorities.

Area elder Haron Mburu said he accompanied Kalamu to the suspect’s house after receiving reports of the incident.

“I went with the owner of the dogs to the house, and we found that the man had prepared a substantial meal. There was soup, meat and a large sufuria of ugali,” Mburu said.

He added that they also saw what appeared to be dried dog legs, while wires had been fixed high on a wall.

According to Mburu, the suspect allegedly strangled the dogs before singeing their bodies to remove the fur, a process he compared to the preparation of pork.

“He does not slaughter the dogs in the usual way. He strangles them, hangs them up and removes the fur. He then cuts the meat into pieces, roasts it and eats it with ugali,” he said.

The details have fuelled anxiety among residents, some of whom fear for the safety of their children and other animals.

One resident said the incident had left the community struggling to understand how anyone could allegedly turn neighbourhood pets into meals.

“We have never witnessed anything like this. We are worried about what could happen next, especially when we leave our children at home or send them outside to play,” the resident said.