LCA on the Ground in S. Korea Working to End Dog Meat and Fight Animal Cruelty!

On Wednesday, January 25, 2017, Last Chance for Animals’ Founder and President, Chris
DeRose, met with Member of Parliment Pyo Chang-won at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, to lend support to his amendment to strengthen existing Animal Protection laws. The amendment is a step in the right direction that will help stop animal abuse — including the unspeakable cruelty of S. Korea’s ruthless dog meat industry.

Currently, S. Korea’s dog meat trade kills about 2 million dogs each year. The dogs are tortured in the belief that suffering makes the meat taste better – they may be hung, electrocuted and cooked alive. S. Korea is the only country in the world in which dogs are bred solely for their meat. Eating dog meat does not have healthful benefits, bring luck or give virility to men.

LCA interviewed young S. Korean citizens on the streets in Seoul and all of them said that not only have they never eaten dog meat and were unaware of the cruelty involved or the amounts of dogs killed each year; they do not support the industry and discourage everyone from eating dog. Young Koreans do not want to be associated with eating dog meat. It is a positive sign that S. Korea has politicians like assemblyman Pyo Chang-won speaking up for the animals. With your support, LCA will continue the fight to help bring an end to the dog meat industry in S. Korea.

Chris, along with representatives from Soi Dog and Nami Kim of Save Korean Dogs, presented Mr. Pyo with over 450,000 petition signatures in support of banning the dog meat trade in S. Korea.

Petition – Stop the Korean Dog and Cat Meat Trade!

Dear Ambassador Ahn Ho-Young,

I respectfully urge the Korean government to put an end to the cruel dog and cat meat industry. I have great respect for the Korean people and Korean culture, but I am horrified to learn that the brutal practice of torturing and killing dogs continues despite global outcry. The dog and cat meat trade — including the barbaric Bok Nal dog meat festival — is internationally perceived as a disgrace to Korea.

As you know, dogs and cats endure brutal abuse in the meat trade, and Korean officials are doing nothing to stop the suffering. Please urge the government of South Korea to pass legislation at once to ban dog and cat meat!

The Korean
Dog Meat Trade:

South Korea systematically breeds and raises dogs solely for the purpose of human consumption. Koreans claim that the more a dog suffers the better its meat tastes — so many dogs are sadistically made to experience extreme fe
ar and suffering prior to death. They are commonly beaten, hanged, electrocuted and burned or boiled alive.

Dedicated activists in Korea are working hard to end the torture and slaughter of dogs. Yet there is still much work to be done.

S. Korea is the only country in the world with large-scale commercial dog meat farms —  yet even these are not enough to meet demand, so dogs are shipped in from China, too. Many stolen pets end up in Korean slaughterhouses, tortured and killed for meat.

Particularly appalling is the three-week-long Bok Nal superstitious ritual, which occurs annually in July and August on what are thought to be the hottest days of the year. Bok Nal participants consume dog meat soup (boshintang) in the belief that this dish has a cooling effect.

Dog meat is far more common among the older generations in Korea; younger generations do not generally participate in eating dogs, and many are speaking out against it. In spite of worldwide public outcry, however, the Korean government has traditionally turned a blind eye to this practice.

LCA Founder and President Chris DeRose is in continued negotiations to have Korea’s existing animal cruelty laws enforced, which would stop the torture of dogs and cats in the meat trade. With the gracious assistance of Mr. Pyo, Los Angeles Consul General Lee Key-Cheol and New York Consul General Gheewhan Kim, real progress is being made. However, there is a long way to go before this brutal industry is finally eradicated.

CLICK HERE to read an interview of Chris DeRose published in The Korea Daily discussing Korea’s dog meat trade.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

1)  Sign the petition above asking Korean Ambassador Ahn Ho-Young to urge the passage of legislation banning dog and cat meat.

2)  Send Ambassador Ahn Ho-Young a letter in the mail as well. Use the text in the petition as an example. Mail your letter to the following address:

Ambassador of the Republic of Korea Ahn Ho-Young
2450 Massachusetts Ave NW
Washington, DC, 20008

3)  Boycott the Winter Olympics of 2018, to be held in the city of PyeongChang, South Korea.

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