“It’s an evil, extra-constitutional law that takes away people’s right to eat, which is a basic right stipulated in the constitution,” stated Joo Yeong-bong, head of the Korean Association of Edible Dogs, a coalition of breeders and sellers.
“It’s like forcing us out in the cold. We’re going to do everything we can to push for fair compensation,” he added.
In April 2022, South Korea’s agricultural ministry estimated that 1,100 farms had been breeding 570,000 dogs for consumption in 1,600 eating places.
However, the affiliation stated the figures had been greater and that the ban would have an effect on some 3,500 farms elevating 1.5 million dogs and three,000 eating places nationwide.
It demanded the federal government pay breeders as much as 400,000 received (US$300) per canine yearly over the following 5 years to facilitate the closure of their farms, a determine officers rejected as “excessive”, citing a possible cost of 4 trillion received.
The authorities’s position is that the farmer ought to promote the remaining dogs or put them up for adoption through the three-year grace interval.
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South Korea’s canine meat eating places to be closed after parliament bans the trade
South Korea’s canine meat eating places to be closed after parliament bans the trade
From delicacy to taboo
The consumption of canine meat, as soon as thought of a delicacy, has declined sharply over the previous decade or so, prompting some critics to query the necessity for a ban.
“Dog meat consumption has been decreasing fast over the past 15 years and it was expected to disappear sooner or later, even without a ban,” Joo Young-ha, a professor of anthropology on the Graduate School of Korean Studies, informed This Week in Asia.
A Gallup ballot final yr confirmed solely 8 per cent of respondents had tried canine meat previously 12 months, a pointy drop from 27 per cent in 2015.
A 2023 survey commissioned by animal rights group AWARE indicated that 93.4 per cent of respondents wouldn’t eat canine meat sooner or later. Interestingly, a ballot from the earlier yr revealed that six out of 10 South Koreans opposed legislating a ban on canine meat.
Chae Young-sam, 67, a retired authorities worker in southern Gwangju metropolis, described how public attitudes in direction of the culinary behavior had been altering over time by sharing his private expertise with canine meat within the Seventies, when he served within the fight police pressure as a part of his necessary navy responsibility.
“I was told by senior members to slaughter a mongrel dog stationed as a guard at [a] checkpoint. It was really revolting to kill a familiar dog,” stated Chae, including he reluctantly carried out the duty as he was the lowest-ranked member.
He hung “man’s best friend” on a tree department, and with the assistance of senior colleagues, he realized easy methods to put together the meat for bosintanga spicy stew.
Although repulsed by the thought, Chae stated peer stress compelled him to style the soup, avoiding the meat. But surrounded by a squad that repeatedly indulged within the dish, Chae grew accustomed to consuming the stew over his 33 months of service.
After his fight police service, Chae took half in a 1980 pro-democracy rebellion in Gwangju. He was detained for weeks and tortured by martial legislation troops. Upon launch, a detailed good friend handled him to canine meat, a follow believed by older Koreans to have invigorating and restorative results.
Since then, Chae has turn into an occasional client of canine meat, becoming a member of associates or colleagues at canine meat eating places on sizzling summer season days to “combat the heat”, as is believed by many.
“But over the past decade or so, fewer and fewer people have patronised bosintang houses because of the rising resentment against the presumably uncivilised culinary habit and abundance of other tasty food. And dog meat is not economical, with bow down (boiled dog meat slices) costing no less than 45,000 won (US$34),” he stated.
Indonesia’s brutal meat market shuts, but some locals insist ‘no dog, no fun’
Indonesia’s brutal meat market shuts, but some locals insist ‘no dog, no fun’
Chae stated lots of the once-popular canine meat eating places in Gwangju had consequently disappeared previously a number of years, as was the case in different components of the nation.
The canine-eating custom in South Korea got here to international consideration when Seoul hosted the 1988 Olympic Games, sparking requires a boycott by activists.
Restrictions on the sale of canine meat, which officers in 1988 designated as “abominable food”, drove many eating places into again alleys or into suburbs. Similar measures took place through the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup and the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
As South Korea plans dog meat ban, farmers threaten to release 2 million canines
As South Korea plans dog meat ban, farmers threaten to release 2 million canines
Joo the professor stated it was not truthful for South Korea to be known as out for its canine meat consumption because the follow additionally existed in different components of Asia, together with Cambodia, China, Indonesia and Vietnam.
In historical Korea, it was not practical for individuals to lift pigs resulting from their insatiable appetites, and the territory lacked grasslands to maintain sheep and goats. Cattle had been used for tillage and their slaughter got here with capital punishment.
Hence, Koreans needed to resort to consuming dogs as there weren’t sufficient sources of protein, apart from seafood and sport that had been onerous to acquire, Joo stated.
Meanwhile, the decline in canine meat consumption additionally comes as an growing variety of South Koreans maintain dogs as pets.
A 2021 authorities survey steered one in 5 households had pet dogs.
Among them are President Yoon Suk-yeol and his spouse Kim Keon-hee, who’ve six dogs and 5 cats. The first girl was probably the most high-profile campaigner for a ban on canine meat consumption.
A 35-year-old natural medication practitioner in Gwangju, who recognized herself solely as Kim, stated she often visited canine meat eating places, accompanying her grandmother who was an excellent bosintang fan.
“My grandmother loved bosintang and I liked it too,” she stated. “But I stopped eating it after my grandmother died four years ago. No one else around me wants to eat it.”
