SOUTH KOREA ANNOUNCES PLAN TO BAN DOG MEAT INDUSTRY BY 2027
In a historic announcement, the South Korean government declared that it will present a measure to prohibit the dog meat business, which sees up to 1 million canines raised and murdered for human food each year. The government bill was confirmed today in Seoul by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, representatives of the ruling Peoples Power Party, and Korean animal groups including Humane Society International/Korea, with a three-year phase-out period once legislation is passed, implying the ban would go into effect in 2027.
Source: We Animals Media
Compensation will be made available to assist legally registered dog meat farmers, traders, slaughterers, and restaurant owners in transitioning or closing their businesses, similar to the Models for Change program run by HSI/Korea, which has worked with 18 dog farmers across the country since 2015 to transition to growing chili plants or parsley delivering water and other livelihoods. This revelation comes on the heels of significant popular and political support for a ban, including the presentation of five parliamentary measures by National Assembly members. The announcement is welcomed by HSI/Korea, one of the foremost animal rights organizations advocating for the abolition of dog meat nationally.
Source: We Animals Media
With rising awareness for animal welfare and more than 6 million pet dogs in Korean homes, demand for dog meat has declined. According to the most recent Nielsen Korea public polls commissioned by HSI/Korea, 86% of South Koreans will not eat dog meat in the future, and 57% support a ban. HSI believes that a brief phase-out period is an unavoidable result of dismantling the trade and assisting farmers and dealers in transitioning to other livelihoods. HSI, on the other hand, recommends the government use the phase-out time to collaborate with animal welfare organizations such as HSI/Korea to rescue as many canines as possible in a state-sponsored, coordinated effort. More than 2,700 dogs have been saved from dog farms across South Korea by HSI/Korea's Models for Change program and have found adoptive homes in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands, with a small number rehomed in South Korea. Most of the farmers with whom HSI/Korea has worked are under increasing societal, family, and financial pressure to quit farming.
Source: We Animals Media
Although most South Koreans do not eat dogs, some, notably the older generation, believe that dog meat soup (bosintang) would chill the body and increase endurance during the hot summer, particularly during the Bok Nal season, which lasts from July to August. The majority of dogs butchered for meat in South Korea are electrocuted, while some are also hanging. Dog meat is prohibited in Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Philippines, India, Thailand, and Singapore, as well as the cities of Shenzhen and Zhuhai in mainland China, Siem Reap province in Cambodia, and 32 cities and regencies in Indonesia, as well as the province of DKI Jakarta. Despite these rising regulations, an estimated 30 million dogs are murdered for meat each year throughout Asia.
