Tag: dogs

Here is the latest from animal rights activist trying to stop the dog meat industry in South Korea:

Following the closure of most dog meat shops at Moran Market in Seongnam, animal rights activists are now targeting one of the largest dog meat markets in Seoul.

According to the Dongdaemun-gu Office, one of the six dog meat sellers at Gyeongdong Market in central Seoul closed his business last month after officials convinced him to so do.

This came after animal rights activists’ constant demands for banning the dog meat trade there.

“We have already responded to about 100 petitions on the issue this year,” a district official said. “It would be more than 1,000, including unofficial petitions by phone calls.”

The demand puts officials in a bind, in which they can do little to solve the issue. That’s because the current livestock hygiene laws do not classify dogs as livestock, and consequently can’t ban killing and sale of dogs, which makes it difficult for them to regulate the industry.

The only thing meat dealers must be cautious of is animal protection laws, which bans killing animals for no particular reason, killing them in a cruel way and killing them in front of other animals of the same kind.

Well aware of the laws, sellers usually electrocute dogs out of view of other dogs, which is legal.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link, but my biggest problem with dog farming in South Korea is that some of these farmers are very inhumane with dogs raised in small cages and then beaten to death to better tenderize the meat.

This photo from animal advocacy group CARE on May 14, 2017, shows the abandoned dog Tory, which will be adopted by President Moon Jae-in to become the “first dog.” Tory was rescued two years ago from a dog meat farm but was left unadopted because of prejudice against black dogs. Moon’s office said it was in talks with CARE on details for adopting Tory, which is set to become the world’s first abandoned dog to become a first dog. (Yonhap)

I wonder how much of news story the search for Chung Yoo-ra is in Germany?  I scanned through various English language German news sites and could find no articles describing the search for Chung.  It seems as long as the search for Chung does not become a major national news story in Germany she should be able to hide out pretty effectively from the Korean media searching for her:

As Korean prosecutors search for Chung Yoo-ra to question her over how much she benefited from the corruption scandal involving her mother Choi Soon-sil and President Park Geun-hye, it was reported that Chung had abandoned more than 10 pets at her German home before fleeing.

Chung reportedly stayed at a luxury hotel in the southwestern city of Karlsruhe, some 140 kilometers south of Frankfurt, from late November until early December. She did not have her 10 large dogs and a cat with her, according to TV Chosun.

“It appears that she abandoned her pets because carrying them will make her more noticeable to public eyes while on the run,” the report said, after reporters visited the hotel’s most expensive suite that Chung paid 300,000 won ($248) a day for. [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

Anti-dogmeat ad in a #Seoul subway station https://t.co/YzkHnZKUGT pic.twitter.com/jxWwKDeoaq

— J. D. McPherson (@ZenKimchi) August 18, 2016

Attendants listen to speakers at an international conference in Seoul on Aug. 5, 2016, against killing dogs for meat, organized by the Korea Animal Rights Advocates. (Yonhap)

https://twitter.com/SouthKoreaDaily/status/662703896209453056

Dog cosmeticians trim the hair of pet dogs during an international dog show, organized by the Korea Kennel Federation, at the Korea International Exhibition Center in the city of Goyang, west of Seoul, on Aug. 28, 2015. (Yonhap)

It seems that US animal rights groups still have their eyes set on stopping dog eating in South Korea:

A dozen dogs originally destined for dinner tables in South Korea arrived in the Washington area to be adopted as pets.

They were the first of a total of 23 dogs being imported into the United States this week as part of a campaign to combat the eating of dog meat in East Asia.

Washington-based Humane Society International (HSI) located the dogs at a farm in Ilsan, northwest of Seoul, where they were being bred specifically for human consumption.

The farmer — who acknowledged a personal fondness for dogs — agreed to give up the animals and accept an offer of compensation and grow blueberries instead, HSI director of companion animals Kelly O’Meara told AFP, as the mongrels settled into kennels Monday at the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria, Virginia after a long flight from Seoul.

HSI has been working with local groups in China, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam to raise public awareness of the dog meat trade.

“But South Korea is unusual because it actually farms dogs to supply demand,” O’Meara said, while other countries target feral dogs as food.

Every year, between 1.2 million and two million dogs are consumed in South Korea, she said, supplied by farms that number “at least in the hundreds.”  [AFP]

You can read more at the link, but my biggest problem with dog farming in South Korea is that some of these farmers do not do it very humanely with dogs raised in small cages and then beaten to death to better tenderize the meat.

The Korean government may soon regulate the Korean dog meat industry

The South Korean government’s moves toward regulating the dog meat industry have people on both sides of the issue foaming at the mouth.

Last week, the South Korean cabinet announced it would draw up rules prohibiting the brutal slaughter of dogs for food and push laws that set guidelines on hygienic processing and sale of dog meat.

The moves are seen in South Korea as an attempt to police an industry that while drawing international scorn is a tradition in many parts of Korean culture.

To legalize the dog meat trade, the law on livestock slaughtering should be revised to include dogs, the Korea Times quoted an unnamed senior government official as saying.

But last week’s decision is only intended at thoroughly controlling the hygiene standard of dog meat, which is considered as food in reality.

While South Korea has laws against several methods of killing dogs, it doesn’t outlaw dog meat sale or consumption.

Not everyone is happy about this:

The issue flared during the 2002 World Cup, when soccer’s international governing body called on South Korea to stop the practice.

Animal-rights groups reacted swiftly to the government’s move to regulate the trade.

Setting a hygiene standard on dog meat means nothing but legalizing the dog meat industry, the Korea Animal Protection Society stated in a news release.

We cannot believe the government is moving to legalize the dog-eating practice of some Koreans, which is not only harmful for national interests but also disgraceful and reproachable.

I don’t eat dog meat and probably never will but I think that eating dog meat here is something paticular to Korean culture just like eating beef is part of American culture. In some areas of the world such as India eating beef is frowned upon. In other areas eating pork is frowned upon. Other countries eat horses. There is a lot of differences in cuisine all across the world. So if Koreans want to eat dog they should not be prevented from doing so and those of us who do not eat dog meat should not judge Koreans negatively for doing so. It just something particular to their culture.

However, something we can judge them on is how they butcher the dogs. It is really inhumane to beat a dog to death just to get the adrenaline flowing into the meat before butchering. In the 2ID area of northern Kyongi province there are a lot of farms that butcher dogs and it is sickening to hear the dogs getting beat to death while in the field pulling night time guard duty. So if the Korean government wants to regulate something they should regulate the treatment of the dogs but should allow people to eat dog if they want to as long as the butchering process is humane. I however don’t expect much to change. I’m sure the next time I go to the field I will hear more yelping dogs.