A rally to promote dog meat in South Korea has been cancelled.

Organisers could not find a venue because of protests by animal rights activists.

Hundreds of dog meat restaurateurs had planned to hold the rally at an auditorium belonging to a telecommunications office in Ilsan near Seoul.

The local office of KT Corp, South Korea's largest telephone operator, told the organisers last weekend it could not lease its facility because of hundreds of protest phone calls.

The rally was intended as a protest against an expected government crackdown on dog meat restaurants ahead of this year's soccer World Cup, which is being co-hosted by South Korea and Japan.

The Japanese don't eat dog meat.

KT says it agreed to lease its facility in November after being told the rally was to promote start-up businesses. There was no mention of dog meat, it says.

"It's nonsense that a government-affiliated company let its facility be used to promote dog meat," Yoon Han-kyong, an animal rights activist, said on SBS-TV.

South Korea has no law governing the sale of dog meat. The government banned the food during the 1988 Seoul Olympics by invoking a law that prohibits the sale of "foods deemed unsightly". After the Olympics, the ban was not strictly enforced.



(Our sincere congratulations go out to our Korean colleagues for this victory!

Although it may be a short step on a long road, it should not be underestimated. People in Korea working for animal welfare face continual opposition and have our utmost respect. By their actions, they have refuted beyond question the dog-eaters' claims that the campaign against their cruel practices is "western imperialism" and "racially motivated".

We must always remember the difficulties our Korean colleagues face, living in the heart of the horror. ITD salutes them without reservation.)