![]() ![]() From birth to slaughter, these dogs are kept in cramped rusty, cages stacked on top of each other. 5 Premeditated TortureĪkin to the abysmal manner in which pigs and chickens are raised for meat in factory farms, dogs raised for meat in South Korea endure miserable living conditions. The number of registered restaurants featuring bosintang (a traditional dog meat stew) numbered 6,484 in 1998 however, the government has estimated that there are actually well over 20,000 such restaurants, counting those that are unregistered. With no substantive enforcement action to curb the sale of dog meat, it remains available in restaurants throughout the country. The law, however, is widely ignored, despite being revised with stronger penalties. South Korea’s Animal Protection Amendment Act of 2007 expressly prohibits some of the cruel methods used by people in the dog meat trade to handle and slaughter dogs. While there is no explicit recognition of dog meat as legitimate food and of dogs as animals fit for human consumption, neither is there a clear ban on sale or slaughter of dogs for food.” 4 One legal analyst concluded that “there is no clear law governing matters relating to dog meat. South Korean law is ambiguous on the legality of the dog meat trade and official efforts to reign in the trade have been half-hearted at best. South Korean President Moon Jae-in has spoken out against the consumption of dog meat, saying he hopes the trade becomes “ phased out.” Early in his presidency, Jae-in adopted a four-year-old black mongrel dog rescued from a dog meat farm. Younger South Koreans tend to shy away from eating dogs, and the percentage of South Koreans who eat dog meat on a regular basis is believed to be relatively small. Such abandoned dogs are picked up by a collector, stuffed into tiny wire cages filled to capacity with other such dogs, and taken to Moran Market (the largest dog meat market in the nation) and other smaller markets around the country to be slaughtered. These are not the only dogs eaten, however unfortunately, the abandonment of pets is common in South Korea, and small, purebred dogs fall victim to the dog meat trade, as well, after they are unceremoniously dumped into the streets by owners who have grown tired of them. 3 The farms primarily raise a type of large, yellow, mixed-breed dog common to South Korea. This is particularly evident during Bok days, the three hottest days of the summer according to the lunar calendar.ĭog meat farms are scattered throughout the countryside, and the industry was estimated several years ago to be worth over US$200 million. There is a belief that eating dog during the festival will keep one cool. 2 Consumption of dog meat is mainly associated with the Boknal festival, where attendees attempt to extract some medicinal healing powers from the consumption of dog. Two million dogs are purportedly killed for food every year in South Korea, and over 100,000 metric tons of dog meat are consumed annually. Then sometime in the last century the practice was taken up by a few older men for mythical health benefits regarding virility.” 1 Like anywhere else, dog was eaten only as a last-ditch resort to avoid starvation. The South Korean Dog Meat TradeĪlthough dogs may have been kept and killed for food in South Korea over a thousand years ago, the nonprofit International Aid for Korean Animals asserts that in modern times, dog meat consumption is not a tradition deeply embedded into the nation’s culture: “Even during desperate times … the consumption of dog was not a dietary tradition. Two places in particular where this is true are South Korea and the Philippines. The sad fact is that in many places where dog meat is consumed, the dogs raised for food commonly endure a lifetime of abuse and often are slaughtered in a manner that is nightmarish in its brutality. What is considered “normal,” of course, is often a matter of cultural perspective-especially when it comes to culinary practices and taboos.Įxtreme cruelty, however, cannot be dismissed as merely a matter of cultural norms. While most Westerners view dogs strictly as companion or working animals and find the practice of raising and slaughtering dogs for food strange and unsettling, a large number of people in South Korea as well as in China, Vietnam, and the Philippines, consume dog meat. ![]() Ending the Slaughter of Nonambulatory Pigs.State Wildlife Agency Contact Information.How to Communicate Effectively with Legislators.United States Legislative Information (external link).Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act.Farm Animal Anti-Confinement Legislation.Cetacean Anti-Captivity Legislation and Laws.Anti-whistleblower (“Ag-Gag”) Legislation.Traveling Exotic Animal and Public Safety Protection Act.Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act.Shaping Policy for Animals in Laboratories.
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