Lieutenant Lamai says the dog meat trade, which is concentrated here in Sakon Nakhon Province, has existed for decades but took on a larger commercial scale only over the past 20 years.
The two police officers have stopped trucks carrying as many as 1,000 dogs bound for Laos and Vietnam. There, in addition to the meat, the skin, which is finer and more delicate than cow leather, is harvested and used to make drum skins and gloves, he said.
The police work is supported by civic groups that want to see dog eating eradicated and that have been instrumental in the dog meat crackdown.