| No free dog meat at World Cup
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Seoul, South Korea - A group
of dog meat restaurant owners said on Friday that
it has scrapped a plan to offer World Cup tourists
free samples of their dishes.
In late
April, 150 restaurant owners said they would set
up stalls near World Cup stadiums during the May
31-June 30 tournament and offer free samples of
steamed meat, as well as soup, sandwiches and
hamburgers made of dog meat. The plan made
government officials uneasy.
"Since our
plan was revealed, we have come under pressure
from authorities and others," said Park Sung-soo,
head of the organisation. "We will not go against
the government's wishes."
Concerned about
its image, South Korea temporarily closed down dog
meat restaurants in Seoul when it hosted the 1988
Summer Olympics. It cited a law that bans sales of
"unsightly food."
About 3 million of South
Korea's 47 million people are believed to eat dog
meat, and there are an estimated 6.000 dog meat
restaurants nation-wide.
Advocates argue
that dog meat is part of South Korean cuisine, but
international animal rights groups have condemned
the practice. Local animal rights groups had vowed
to block dog meat dealers from staging the street
campaign.
South Korea and Japan will
co-host the World Cup finals. -
Sapa-AP
(On the surface, a victory,
but they did this as a temporary measure in the
1980’s. Let us not pretend that this is anything
more than a diplomatic measure by the S Korean
Govt. Now that they are in the spotlight, we need
to keep piling on the pressure! At least they are
now not so proud of their “National delicacy”.
They are on the run! We need to pile on the
pressure now as never before! PLEASE keep those
protest emails going! They are what are making the
difference! Protest email addresses are on our web
site under “How to Help”.
If you have
never sent a protest email before (perhaps because
you don’t know how to express it? We have sample
letters you can just copy and send!), NOW is the
time! – ITD)
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City Press, SA 10/05/02
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