Dog and Cat consumption in Korea By Kyenan Kum

Despite being technically illegal, the dog-meat business in South Korea remains a billion dollar industry. Based on figures taken from a 1993 government survey, it is estimated that 2.6 million dogs and cats will be tortured, killed, and consumed each year, in the mistaken belief that their meat will confer health benefits upon those who eat it. Sustaining innumerable underground dog and cat meat dealers, South Korea is home to some 6,000 dog-meat restaurants.

Because the trade is officially illegal, it is impossible to know the precise number of people trading in dogs and, indeed, just how many animals pass through their hands. However, the appallingly gruesome methods employed to slaughter them is not a matter of debate. Indeed, the traders make no attempt to conceal their brutality toward the dogs since it’s a widely held belief among the three million dog-eaters in Korea that the more a dog suffers, the more adrenalin will be secreted into its blood and, thus, the more tender and therapeutic its meat will become. (In particular, Korean dog-eaters have been led to believe that meat derived from dogs that have been forced to suffer pain and distress for a prolonged period before death contains aphrodisiac properties.) Common slaughtering methods include bludgeoning the animal with a section of metal pipe or a hammer. Hanging the dog by its neck and electrocution are also popular methods, as is the practice of pulling violently on an animal’s limbs so as to dislocate them, thereby maximising the pain and distress suffered.

Cats, unlike dogs, are not especially valued for their meat in Korea. Rather, they are used to create a type of “tonic” in which the entire cat is liquefied by being thrown whole into a cauldron of boiling water and set to simmer with ginger and spices. Typically, the cats will either be beaten to death prior to liquefaction or else dropped into boiling water while still fully conscious.

The resulting cat “tonic” is touted as a cure for rheumatism, although there is no more scientific basis for this than for the mythical aphrodisiac claim made for the meat of tortured dogs.

In response to international pressure brought in the wake of the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Korea’s Minister of Health actually banned dog-meat stew, classifying it as “disgusting food… and unfit for human consumption,” under the terms of the 1984 Food Sanitation Law. However, because this law was never actually enforced, a major international campaign against Korean dog and cat-eating gained momentum, resulting ultimately in Korea’s 1991 Animal Protection Law - Korea’s first ever law prohibiting cruelty towards animals.

Unluckily for the animals, however, the Korean government does not enforce the law. Allying themselves instead with the dog-meat traders, they defend the industry by claiming that the consumption of dog-meat is part of Korean culture. Furthermore, Korea’s president said in the past that he would support a move to legalise dog-meat, provided that the government could persuade enough numbers of foreigners not to object the measure. In short, the Korean government appears to lack the will enforce any laws pertaining to animal protection.

Clearly, while the pressure inside Korea must continue to grow in order to end the practice forever, it is absolutely vital that external pressures also continue to grow. This is because the only measures the Korean government has thus far taken relating to this issue have been made to placate western concerns. In particular, it is essential that all attempts to legalise the dog-meat industry must be opposed.

The consumption of dog and cat-meat is not simply an aspect of the east-west cultural divide. Just like people living in the west, many Koreans are also sickened by the practice. They, too, believe that the eating of companion animals that regularly display great loyalty and affection for humans is clearly wrong. And, as Sunnan Kum (founder of the Korea Animal Protection Society) points out, dogs and cats can be seen as a bridge, enabling us to extend our compassion to cows, pigs, chickens and wildlife generally.

Through interacting with these loving creatures, people generally come to appreciate that they, too, have feelings, and that they deserve our respect and consideration. A society that tolerates the practice of slaughtering for food the very same animals that are regarded as loyal and affectionate by many of its own people is sending out a dangerously mixed and incongruous message - a message which says that animals can, when it suits, be treated with contempt and disrespect. This is why Sunnan and I are both convinced that the practice of eating dogs and cats is at the very heart of the continued animal abuse in Korea today.

Finally, with the sustained help of the international community, we can bring ever closer the day when the suffering of Korea’s companion animals is ended and, indeed, when all of the country’s animals are finally treated with the compassion they deserve.

Kyenan Kum is a founder of International Aid for Korean Animals. To find out more about the plight of Korean dogs and cats and how to help them,

visit our website:
www.koreananimals.org

Visit also:
www.geocities.com/yoons_choi/iakauk.html

Or contact
International Aid for Korean Animals
Mail: iaka@koreananimals.org
Address: P.O.Box 20600
Oakland, CA 94620-0600
U.S.A.