Dog meat traders arrested in Philippines.

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, according to AFP.

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 July 27,2008.

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 July 27.

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.