Dog Eating under South Korean LawUpdated 15/07/07 The following is an excerpt from an email sent by our colleagues at IAKA/KAPS in May 2007. "For those of you who have been following our campaign, we're happy to announce that we have defeated the proposal for the hygienic control of dog meat, and that Korea has passed a new Animal Protection Law with stronger legislation and much tougher penalties for animal neglect and cruelty. This is a great success for IAKA after many years of protesting the Korean government to strengthen the animal protection law, and warm thanks go to all of you who helped by writing letters, collecting petitions and distributing our materials. There is still much to be accomplished in Korea to improve the lives of Korean animals, but this is a very positive step in the right direction." The revised Animal Protection Law is set to come into effect in January 2008 and includes some significant improvements, such as banning the killing of animals (including dogs) by hanging or in view of other animals. There is nothing within it however to prevent another attempt by the Korean government to propose legislation for the "hygienic control of dog meat", as it did in 2004. At the time it claimed that regulation of dog slaughter was the only way to ensure that the killing would be done humanely and under sanitary conditions. While the new law increases the penalties for animal cruelty, there is nothing to prevent another attempt to have dogs officially reclassified as food animals. But do the dog eaters need to worry about getting their sickening habits legalised? At the beginning of July 2007, a South Korean "entrepreneur" started selling dog meat online and got a free plug in a Korean newspaper. After a few days (according to france24.com) he had to stop the online sales after a flood of protests from both South Koreans and the international community. Interestingly, an official with the Ministry of Health and Welfare was reported as saying, "Under the food sanitation law, animals that are not examined according to livestock processing regulations are not allowed to be sold as food, and dogs are not counted as livestock. However, we do not take strong measures to regulate the practice since we have a tradition and culture of eating dog meat and many people enjoy it." And after January 2008 will anything change? We doubt it. In the past we have asked you to write emails to the Korean government and Assembly. Their email addresses are however notoriously unreliable largely due to their dislike of criticism. We therefore ask you instead to contact the Korean embassy in your own country, asking the Ambassador to forward on your email. The contact details for Korean embassies world-wide can be found quickly here. The following is an EXAMPLE email. Please write an original if possible, but PLEASE send it in your own language. This has far more impact than form letters. Dear Mr Ambassador Please ensure that this mail is also received by President Roh Moo-Hyun and the Korean Ministry of Agriculture. In 1991 your country took a step forward toward acceptance in the western world by its passing of the Animal Protection Law. Regrettably however, Korea has never implemented that law. I urge you to do all that you can to ensure that, when its revisions take effect in January 2008, it is fully adhered to. I know that the majority of the Korean people do not eat dogs or cats and an increasing number are coming to regard these companion animals as essential contributors to the quality of their lives. There can never be a distinction made that some dogs or cats are "bred for slaughter" while other are bred to be Man's valued and trusted companions. Refusal to enforce its own laws brings shame to any nation. If Korea is to be seen as credible by both the many millions of people world-wide and its own people who are concerned about removing companion animals from the food-chain, it must state now, once and for all, that the consumption of dogs and cats is illegal and can not be tolerated in a modern civilised society. Yours sincerely Name, City/Country |