Is this the world's most gruesome food market? Dogs, rats, bats and monkeys among the animals roasted WHOLE in Indonesia

WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT

Awaiting their fate: These dogs are kept in cramped cages for hours before they are eventually hung by a rope and flame roasted whole at a meat market in Indonesia

Grisly: The blackened bodies of dozens of dogs sit on a table in Tomohon Traditional market in North Sulawesi

Brutal: The dogs' flame-roasted bodies are curled up on a floor covered in blood at the Indonesian market

Sad: Not only is this dog likely to be turned into meat, it is also chained to the floor of a cramped cage, leaving it barely able to move in the hours before its death

Bloody: Most of the killing and butchery at the market takes place in view of the public. The result is harrowing

The Tomohon Traditional market in North Sulawesi, Indonesia sells whole monkeys, bats, cats, dogs (pictured), pigs, rats, sloths and even giant pythons laid out on tables with painful expressions still etched on their faces

The macabre food stalls were witnessed by Oman-based photographer and blogger, Raymond Walsh, 

Scary: These terrifying and charred remains of a bat will be used in traditional Indonesian cooking

Mr Walsh said Tomohon was typical of a lot of local markets in the developing world with lots of fruit, vegetables and fish. The only difference was the sheer number of dead animals for sale, including these rats

The Oman-based professional photographer said he found the sight of dead dogs particularity harrowing

Would you eat one? Roasted rats are piled up on a table inside Tomohon Traditional market in Indonesia

Skewered: The rats are flame-roasted on sticks after being killed by having their heads thumped against a tree

Although the market's dead dogs may be difficult for westerners to look at, Mr Walsh points to the different cultures and attitudes towards the animals in South East Asia.

'Put simply, Westerners see dogs solely as pets. Indonesians see them as both pets and as sources of meat - it's just how we're raised,' he said.

In the photographs, many of the animals are stiff and completely black with a haunting pained expressions on their faces.

'After they are killed the animals are roasted over a fire, so the fur burns off, the skin tightens and peels back, causing that 'screaming' look,' Mr Walsh explained.

'How they are killed depends on the animal. Cats, monkeys, and sloths are shot. Bats and rats have their heads clobbered against a tree or table. Pigs are stabbed with a sharp piece of wood or metal,' he added.

Bats are just one of the animals sold as meat at the market. Mr Walsh says are killed by having their heads 'clobbered' against a tree

When asked to describe the smell, Mr Walsh said: 'In a word, appalling. There's something about the air that changes when there's that much death around'

Although the market's dead dogs may be difficult for westerners to look at, Mr Walsh points to the different cultures and attitudes towards the animals in South East Asia

In the photographs, many of the animals are stiff and completely black with a haunting pained expressions on their faces. On the left is a roasted monkey, while the animals on the right are dead rats