South Korea’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Which Turns a Blind Eye to Illegal Dog Meat Farming, Must Wake Up!
Sharing from: https://koreandogs.org/mafra/
Sharing for Coexistence of Animal Rights on Earth (CARE)
On August 8, the animal rights organization Coexistence of Animal Rights on Earth (CARE) visited the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) headquarters in Sejong, South Korea. The purpose was to protest MAFRA’s failure to address illegal dog farm facilities in accordance with current laws by claiming that enforcement of the laws is the responsibility of the local governments.
CARE summarizes the issues as follows:
The “Dog Meat Consumption Ban Law” was enacted on February 6th. Starting from February 7, 2027, it prohibits the raising, slaughtering, distributing, or selling of dogs for consumption. The government has announced a three-year grace period, claiming the delay is necessary to “minimize confusion” during the law’s implementation.
The issue is that MAFRA made an absurd request to local governments during this process. They asked local authorities not to enforce the current laws for dog farms that have merely submitted conversion plans. This means MAFRA’s directive was to apply the law subjectively while ignoring enforcement on illegal land conversions, building code violations, and unregistered constructions at the discretion of local governments.
MAFRA claims that this decision encourages dog farm owners to terminate their operations as soon as possible. However, the consequence is that even if illegal activities in the dog meat industry are discovered during the grace period, they will be overlooked.
CARE strongly disagrees with this approach. If compensation to the dog farm owners was inevitable due to the passage of the special law, MAFRA should have said that they would enforce violations of the current law more strictly for a faster transition. At the same time, MAFRA could have suggested increased compensation for those who ceased operations faster than others.
Who is the dog meat consumption ban law intended to protect? It was clearly created to protect dogs and prevent their slaughter. However, who exactly is MAFRA currently advocating for, and what are they asking to be overlooked?
MAFRA’s administrative position, which only serves to help the dog meat industry, strengthens the claims of the Dog Farmers Association. The Dog Farmers Association has expressed that the three-year grace period is too short and has demanded an extension to a total of six years. They have also argued that the compensation of 300,000 won (approximately USD $230) per dog is insufficient. Moreover, at the protest on the 8th, they threatened that if their demands were not met, they would increase the number of dogs eligible for compensation from 500,000 to 10,000,000.
The law was created specifically to eliminate dog farms driven by human greed, yet people continue to be greedy. At the same time, animal protection organizations that work for animals are being fined for obstructing official duties, “stalking,” and violating various laws while their shelters are facing demolitions. So, while dog farms are overlooked, animal protection organizations are relentlessly and harshly punished.
CARE will continue to advocate for animal protection and fight against those who harm them. We ask for your support and collaboration with CARE.
✅ CARE is always by the side of the animals. Hana Bank 350–910009–45704 (CARE)
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“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” -Mahatma Gandhi
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