meat trade update and a video of anti rabies act of 2008 implemented

BAGUIO, Philippines (AFP) - Six people illegally selling dog meat have been arrested and are facing up to four years jail in a fresh crackdown in the northern Philippines, officials said Monday.

Animal rights activists from the London-based Animal Kingdom Foundation (AKF) accompanied police as they raided a public market near the northern mountain city of Baguio on Sunday.

Police arrested six traders and confiscated around 260 kilos (570 pounds) of dog meat.

The arrests were the first since a new law imposing stricter penalties for selling dog meat took effect on Sunday.

AKF researcher Brando Gegway said at least a dozen restaurants in Baguio alone openly advertise dog meat on their menu.

The raids are "all about about protecting the people's health due to the high risk of rabies" from eating dog meat," he told reporters.

But dog meat however is a tradition in many northern Philippine tribal cultures, and while the government has tried to stop the practise, it has persisted over the years.