South Korea is the World’s 14th largest economy, yet an estimated 2.5 million dogs and thousands of cats are slaughtered and eaten as “health food” each year.
This Black Market Industry has never been legislated, regulated or even acknowledged by the World’s farming Industries or Food Standards Organizations. So why do Governments allow this practice to continue and set up expensive trade agreements to include animal welfare provisions, only to turn a blind eye?
Forced to endure deprivation and unimaginable torment from the moment they are born until the day they are slaughtered, dogs are imprisoned in cramped, rusty, raised cages all their lives with no protection from extreme weather and no water, exercise, companionship or medical care, never feeling the ground beneath feet. Their eardrums are often burst to prevent them from barking.
In broad daylight, often in front of other live dogs, they are electrocuted, hanged, beaten or burnt to death. This is a profit-driven, tax free, unregulated industry that aggressively promotes the myth that eating a dog (especially the dog’s penis) enhances male virility and gives men energy. In addition, consumption peaks during the hottest days of summer!
Koreans genuinely believe that the more a dog suffers, the more the consumer will enjoy both the health benefits and the meat… Many dogs are sadistically made to experience extreme fear and suffering prior to death. Cats are frequently boiled alive to make tonics believed to treat rheumatism. The demand is so high in South Korea that 20% of the dogs eaten there are now imported from China.
