URGE SOUTH KOREA TO STOP KILLING DOGS AND CATS FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION
- by: Ruth McD
- recipient: Park Geun-hye, President of South Korea
An estimated 2.5 million dogs and thousands of cats are slaughtered and eaten each year.
Forced to endure deprivation and unimaginable torture from the moment they are born until the day they are slaughtered, dogs are imprisoned in cramped, filthy, raised cages all their lives with no protection from extreme weather. They get no water, exercise, companionship or medical care, and they never feel the ground beneath their 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, have their throats slashed, or are boiled or burnt to death. This is a profit-driven, tax free, unregulated industry that aggressively promotes the myth that eating a dog enhances male virility and stamina. Consumption peaks during the hottest days of summer (Boknal).
Koreans claim that the more a dog suffers, the better its meat is. So many dogs are sadistically made to experience extreme fear and suffering prior to death. Cats are frequently boiled alive to make health tonics, too. – “600 Stray Cats Boiled Alive,” Yonhap News, 5/21/15.
The demand is so high in South Korea that 20% of the dogs eaten there are now imported from China. South Korea is the only country known to have large, intensive farming systems to supply the demand for dog meat.
Dogs on dog farms are pumped full of antibiotics and medicines—it is the only way to keep them alive and free from disease because of the terrible conditions they live in. However, “Consuming meat concentrated with high level of antibiotics will cause severe toxic effects in the human body, and will cause endocrine disruption in the long term and eventually lead to cancer and diabetes.” – Dr. Tae-Yo Ha, HankookIlBo, 7/4/11. No one should feel safe eating dog meat.
South Korea also gets rid of one third of its food waste by giving it to farmed dogs, a practice that is highly illegal in modern countries around the world. Imagine eating animals that were fed on rotting food waste infested with flies, maggots, rats, and infectious germs.
Altogether, dog farms are unsanitary, dog food waste is unsanitary, and dog slaughterhouses are unsanitary. It is all a recipe for illness and food poisoning.
I am extremely upset about the torture and consumption of companion animals in South Korea.
With the ubiquity of social medias, every day we are seeing shocking and heartbreaking images and videos of innocent dogs being tortured and killed in your country.
Even though Korea has established an Animal Protection Law for companion animals, dogs are still beaten, hung, electrocuted, and treated brutally by farmers and slaughters. Also, dogs and cats are still being beaten and boiled alive for so-called elixirs, which do not have medical properties except in the minds of ignorant and gullible customers.
These practices have no place in the modern world. Other Asian countries have banned the eating of dog meat and the cruel industry that goes with it, such as Taiwan and the Philippines. Why does Korea persist in lagging behind these countries and other civilized societies?
It’s the responsibility of the Korean government to once and for all end the cruel dog meat and cat medicine industries in Korea. It is time to dismiss the childish myths and propaganda surrounding these industries and their vile products. It is time to leave behind backward and unnecessary traditions.
And it is time for Korea to start taking animal welfare seriously and show that it really does have a compassionate and ethical society. That means it is time for the Korean government to start better educating the public about the importance of spaying and neutering, about not abandoning pets, and about treating animals in a proper manner.
Until these things are done, Korea’s reputation in the international community will continue to suffer. Its citizens will continue to face shame and embarrassment. And Korea will continue to be regarded as “third world,” despite its modernization and attempts at globalized thinking.
End the killing, and human consumption of dogs, and cats now!
Sincerely,
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