KARA: The government’s 43 years of giving immunity to the illegal dog meat industry and escaping responsibility with an excuse about “social discussion” is enough!
Sharing from: https://koreandogs.org/kara-response/
We have translated the Korea Animal Rights Advocate (KARA)’s response to South Korea’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs statement on 11/25/2021 regarding the South Korean Government to launch a consultative discussion organization on the ending of dog meat consumption.
Today, the Korean government announced its official position on ending the dog meat industry. Although technically illegal, this industry has been tolerated since dogs were excluded from the Livestock Products Sanitation Control Act in 1978, which governs the slaughter of livestock and processing of livestock products.
The social conflict and the unimaginable suffering of animals in Korea’s dog meat industry are a direct result of the inaction and incompetence of the Korean government. We are, therefore, pleased to see that they have finally made at least a symbolic effort to end dog meat consumption, albeit belatedly.
However, we are very disappointed that these efforts do not specifically address the nature of Korea’s dog meat industry, nor do they reflect the government’s understanding of the current situation or even the fundamental issue and trend of animal welfare at home and abroad.
It has taken 43 years for South Korea to transform into an industrialized country. Throughout this process, the government has ignored the plight of more than a million dogs that are horrifically killed in slaughterhouses by being beaten, hanged, or even electrocuted to death.
During this long period, various private organizations have been the only ones to report on the dog meat industry and attempt to stop this gruesome genocide and animal cruelty.
KARA has been conducting a field survey on dog farms since 2014 and held an ‘International Conference on the Ending of Dog Meat’ in 2016 to raise awareness of Korea’s dog meat issue as a global animal cruelty issue. In 2017, in addition to reporting on food waste being distributed to dog farms as their only source of food, we proposed measures to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and Ministry of Environment to revise relevant laws and improve policies to end the industry, such as strengthening the Animal Protection Act, repealing the exception to animal cruelty, amending the Livestock Act, and amending the Livestock Product Sanitation Control Act. In 2018 we requested an investigation into all dog breeding farms nationwide, including meat dog farms, puppy mills, and Jindo dog breeding farms, but our request was ignored.
However, KARA continued our efforts and requested the Gyeonggi province investigate the dog farms in Gyeonggi province, where meat dog farms were extensively distributed. We confirmed that 50% of the dog farms on the list were already closed down. This provided all the rationale and justification for ending dog meat consumption.
(Dog meat industry has no future, and its decline has already started.)
However, while ignored by the government, animal cruelty in the dog meat industry is a daily occurrence, and the illegal, unsanitary distribution conditions have reached a grotesque level. The shocking brutality of dog farms, dog auction houses, and dog slaughterhouses that KARA discovered in 2021 as a result of the raids of dog meat distribution routes and the slaughterhouses is beyond imagination.
The dog meat industry is a major national issue that undermines the nation’s standing in the international community, incurs enormous social costs, causes division among people, and obviously results in the torture and death of millions of animals.
Nevertheless, the government’s announcement still did not demonstrate the willingness of the government to play a central role as the responsible entity or an awareness of how serious and urgent this issue is.
There are steps needed to develop a quick and reasonable way to end dog meat consumption.
First of all, government officials should witness firsthand the horrific reality of the dog meat industry, from how the animals live to how they are killed, and they should apologize. The government should take decisive steps to once and for all shutdown dog farms since they are already illegal under the existing law. A consultative group composed of experts in the field of animal welfare and animal protection, civic groups, citizens, etc., should be formed to determine detailed exit plans, including the quickest possible timeline to end the dog meat industry, protection of and care for the animals that are in the dog farms, and the creation of effective measures to prohibit the slaughter of dogs for consumption legally.
Relevant government ministries, such as the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, and the Ministry of Environment, should apologize to the public for the consequences of their neglect and inaction and promptly conduct in-depth practical discussions. We hope that each ministry promises to play a role and suggests a quick and specific way to end it.
By April 2022, the date suggested by the government today, rather than discussing ending dog meat consumption, the implementation of ending dog meat consumption must occur.
KARA will not spare any efforts to provide suggestions to end dog meat consumption, and we will continue to work passionately with reasonable citizens towards this goal.
November 25, 2021, Korea Animal Rights Advocates KARA
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