PYEONGTAEK, South Korea (AP) — The dogs bark and gaze as Kim Jong-kil approaches the rusty cages housing the big, short-haired animals he costs their meat. Kim opens a door and family pets one dog’s neck and chest.
Kim says he’s proud of the dog meat farm that has actually supported his family for 27 years, however is disturbed over growing efforts by political leaders and activists to ban the business, which he is committing his kids.
“It’s more than just feeling bad. I absolutely oppose these moves, and we’ll mobilize all our means to resist it,” Kim, 57, said in an interview at his farm in Pyeongtaek city, simply south of Seoul.
Dog meat intake is a centuries-old practice on the Korean Peninsula and has actually long been considered as a source of endurance on hot summertime days. It’s neither clearly prohibited nor legislated in South Korea, however increasingly more individuals desire it restricted. There’s increasing public awareness of animal rights and fret about South Korea’s worldwide image.
The anti-dog meat campaign just recently received a huge increase when the nation’s very first lady revealed her assistance for a restriction and 2 legislators sent expenses to remove the dog meat trade.
“Foreigners think South Korea is a cultural powerhouse. But the more K-culture increases its international standing, the bigger shock foreigners experience over our dog meat consumption,” said Han Jeoungae, an opposition legislator who sent legislation to ban the dog meat market last month.
Prospects for passage of an anti-dog meat law are uncertain since of demonstrations by farmers, restaurant owners and others associated with the dog meat market. Surveys recommend that a person in 3 South Koreans opposes such a restriction, though the majority of people don’t consume dog meat any longer.
Dogs are also eaten in China, Vietnam, Indonesia, North Korea and some African nations, consisting of Ghana, Cameroon, Congo and Nigeria.
Earlier this month, Indonesian authorities announced completion of dog and cat massacre at an animal market on the island of Sulawesi following a yearslong campaign by regional activists and world stars. The Tomohon Extreme Market will end up being the very first such market in Indonesia to go dog and cat meat-free, according to the anti-animal cruelty group Humane Society International.
South Korea’s dog meat market gets more worldwide attention since of its credibility as a rich, ultra-modern democracy. It is likewise the only country with industrial-scale farms. Most farms in South Korea have more than 500 dogs, according to a dog farmers’ association.
During a recent check out, Kim’s farm, among the nation’s biggest with 7,000 dogs, appeared reasonably tidy however there was a strong smell in some locations. All dogs are kept in raised cages and are fed with food waste and ground chicken. They are hardly ever launched for workout and generally are cost meat one year after they are born.
Kim said 2 of his kids, age 29 and 31, are running the farm with him, which business has actually been going quite well. He said the dogs reproduced for their meat are various from petsa concept opposed by activists.
It’s challenging now to discover dog meat dining establishments in Seoul’s dynamic downtown, though numerous still exit in the countryside.
“I only earn one-third of the money I used to make. Young people don’t come here. Only ailing old people come for lunch,” said Yoon Chu-wol, 77, the owner of a dog meat restaurant in Seoul’s Kyungdong standard market. “I tell my elderly customers to come and eat my food more frequently before it’s banned.”
Farmers likewise deal with growing examination from authorities and significantly negative popular opinion. They grumble that authorities visit them consistently in action to problems submitted by activists and residents over declared animal abuse and other misdeed. Kim said more than 90 such petitions were submitted versus his farm throughout a recent four-month period.
Son Won Hak, basic secretary of the dog farmers’ association, said numerous farms have actually collapsed in recent years since of falling dog meat costs and weaker need. He believes that’s an outcome of activist projects and unreasonable media reports concentrating on farms with inferior conditions. Some observers, nevertheless, state intake of dog meat was already decreasing, with younger individuals keeping away from it.
“Quite honestly, I’d like to quit my job (as a farmer) tomorrow. We can’t confidently tell our children that we’re raising dogs,” Son said. “When my friends called me, they said ‘Hey, are you still running a dog meat farm? Isn’t it illegal?’”
The variety of farms throughout South Korea has actually come by half from a couple of years ago to about 3,000 to 4,000, and about 700,000 to 1 million dogs are butchered each year, a decrease from a number of million 10 to twenty years earlier, according to the dog farmers’ association. Some activists argue that the farmers’ quotes are an exaggeration suggested to reveal their market is too huge to destroy.
In late 2021, South Korea introduced a government-civilian task force to think about banning dog meat at the idea of then-President Moon Jae-in, a family pet enthusiast. The committee, whose members consist of farmers and animal rights activists, has actually fulfilled more than 20 times however hasn’t reached any arrangement, obviously since of disagreements over payment problems.
Agriculture authorities declined to divulge the conversations in the closed-door conferences. They said the federal government wishes to end dog meat intake based upon a public agreement.
In April, very first lady Kim Keon Hee, the partner of existing President Yoon Suk Yeol, said in a conference with activists that she expects an end to dog meat consumption. Famers reacted with rallies and protests versus Kim for apparently harming their incomes.
Han, the legislator, said she “highly positively appraises” prominent figures speaking up versus dog meat intake.
Han said her expense uses assistance programs for farmers who consent to close their farms. They would be entitled to money to dismantle their centers, trade training, work support and other advantages, she said.
Ju Yeongbong, an authorities of the farmers’ association, said farmers wish to continue for about 20 more years up until older individuals, their primary consumers, pass away, enabling the market to naturally vanish. Observers state most farmers are likewise in their 60s to 70s.
Borami Seo, a director of the South Korea workplace of the Humane Society International, said she opposes the ongoing killing of countless dogs for such an extended duration. “Letting this silent cruelty to (dogs) be committed in South Korea doesn’t make sense,” Seo said.
“(Dog meat consumption) is too anachronistic, has elements of cruelty to animals and hinders our national growth,” said Cheon JinKyung, head of Korea Animal Rights Advocates in Seoul.
