Stop Boknal, the South Korean dog meat festival

For this time of year marks the start of ‘Boknal,’ South Korea’s dog-eating festival. A three-week event that coincides with the height of the summer growing season.

Every year South Korean dog and cat meat markets mass slaughter thousands of animals for their flesh.

While the consumption of dogs and cats is distressing enough in itself, the horror these creatures endure during their short lives is extreme.

Ms Fryer explained: “Dogs on farms in South Korea are confined to crowded, filthy cages. Before being killed, they’re often beaten to increase the flow of adrenaline, which dog-flesh peddlers claim improves the flavour of the meat and increases male virility. Cats are kept under equally cruel and terrifying conditions in markets before being boiled alive in pressure cookers in order to extract their “juice” for use in ‘tonics’.”

Ms Fryer believes that drawing awareness to the practices that take place would change many South Koreans’ attitudes towards the festival.