The South Korean parliament on Tuesday (January 9) handed a Bill banning the manufacturing and sale of canine meat, in a choice that campaigners hailed as a “historic victory” for animal welfare.
Although the Bill doesn’t criminalise the consumption of canine meat, it goals to ban the sale, distribution, butchery, and breeding of dogs for his or her meat by 2027.
Why has the Bill been handed now?
Consuming canine meat in South Korea is a centuries-old apply. A report by the BBC mentioned, traditionally, cows have been extremely valued and so prized that folks needed to acquire a authorities allow to slaughter them up till the late nineteenth Century. Therefore, canine meat turned the perfect supply of protein and was loved by individuals throughout the category spectrum.
In recent years, nevertheless, the apply has been more and more shunned as incomes, pet possession and concern for animal welfare spiked steadily.
About 93% of South Korean adults mentioned they didn’t wish to eat canine meat sooner or later, and 82% mentioned they supported a ban, in line with a survey carried out final 12 months by Aware, an animal welfare organisation in Seoul, The New York Times reported
Therefore, it didn’t come as a shock when in November 2023, the ruling People Power Party with uncommon bipartisan help proposed a Bill to ban the breeding, slaughter and sale of dogs for human consumption.
The Bill additionally discovered sturdy help from South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and First Lady Kim Keon. Both the President and his spouse, recognized to be animal lovers and homeowners themselves, campaigned for the ban and mentioned that outlawing the customized was one of many presidential priorities.
What does the Bill say?
The Bill intends to stop the merciless slaughter of dogs with out truly banning their consumption. According to activists, dogs are electrocuted or hanged when slaughtered for meat. Breeders and merchants, nevertheless, have argued that slaughtering has turn into extra humane in recent years.
The Bill will likely be applied in 2027, following a three-year grace interval for canine farm homeowners, meat eating places, and different staff within the commerce to shut their businesses or discover different sources of employment.
Under the Bill, slaughtering dogs for consumption can entice fines of as much as 30 million received (roughly Rs 19 lakh) or imprisonment of as much as three years. Selling and breeding dogs for consumption may entice a 2-year jail sentence or a fantastic of 20 million received (Rs 12.58 lakh).
As of April 2022, South Korea’s agriculture ministry had estimated that 1,100 farms have been breeding 570,000 dogs to be served at round 1,600 eating places within the nation. The new regulation requires all such legally registered canine farms, slaughterers, merchants, and eating places to submit their phaseout plans to native authorities, outlining how they plan to close down operations or transition to a different business. Based on this, it is going to be determined which businesses are eligible for presidency compensation. However, the small print of what compensation will likely be supplied are but to be labored out, the BBC mentioned.
What different nations have this regulation?
Once the Bill will get approval from the President, South Korea will be a part of the rising checklist of Asian nations and territories which have banned the canine meat commerce. These embody Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
Is canine meat commerce allowed in India?
Yes, it’s. But there was some pushback.
In July 2020, Nagaland introduced a ban on the import, buying and selling, and sale of canine meat within the state.
However, in June final 12 months, the Kohima bench of the Gauhati High Court quashed the order observing canine consumption “to be an accepted norm” among the many Nagas even in fashionable instances.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
First uploaded on: 13-01-2024 at 2:41 PM IST
