South Korea’s laws prohibiting the consumption of dogs and cats have been routinely ignored and disregarded by law enforcement. Korea’s Ministry for the Office of Government Policy Coordination announced in January that it was to begin inspecting dog meat for sanitation, thus giving dog meat its seal of approval. The Government promised that it was backing away from this deplorable plan in February after being inundated with thousands of letters, phone calls, and e-mails from concerned citizens and animal protectionists around the world. However, the Government is once again leaning toward supporting the Ministry’s back door efforts to legalize dog meat.
Before dogs are killed for meat, they are often strung up by their legs and beaten. Dog butchers extol the virtues of their product, linking the adrenaline rush dogs experience as they are bludgeoned to death to enhanced male virility. Cats fare no better—viewed as pest animals, they are boiled alive so their “juices” can be extracted for supposed health tonics which butchers claim can be used to treat rheumatism.
“It’s inconceivable that as the rest of the world is strengthening animal protection laws, the Korean Government is allowing ‘man’s best friends’ to be boiled alive, beaten, butchered, and eaten under its knowing watch,” says IDA president and founder Elliot M. Katz, DVM.
For more information on IDA and its Korean Animals Campaign, please visit www.IDAUSA.org. For more information on Animal Freedom Korea, please visit www.animalkorea.org.
(information from In Defense of Animals)
