Killing dogs for consumption is banned in South Korea, but farming, selling, and eating the meat is not. It is the only country in the world with commercial dog meat farms.
CHRIS PLEASANCE: Undercover footage has revealed the distressing conditions suffered by hundreds of dogs inside what is thought to be South Korea’s largest dog meat auction house. Investigators from US charity Lady Freethinker captured images from the Nakwon auction house, in the city of Namyangju, over the summer… Their footage shows keepers pulling the yelping animals around their cages using metal snares so buyers could get a better look at them. It then shows an auctioneer calling out bids from a crowd of buyers…
The footage was recorded ahead of Bok Nal, the hottest period of summer when most dog meat is traditionally eaten, when the auction house is at its busiest. Undercover animal activists found around 200 animals for sale, crammed into 60 numbered cages with between three and four animals housed in each cage. Officially classified as a breeding facility, activists say that some of the larger animals will be used for breeding, into the meat industry…
South Korea remains the only country in the world with large-scale, commercial dog meat farms… Killing dogs for consumption is banned in South Korea, but farming the animals, selling them and eating the meat is not, meaning the practice continues but has been driven partially underground. Most major dog meat auction houses in South Korea have closed, with Nakwon Auction House believed to be the largest remaining one…
Because dog slaughter is outlawed in South Korea, estimates of how many dogs are killed annually vary wildly. While the Korean Animal Rights Advocates association believes that up to 1million dogs are killed per year for meat, other estimates are much lower. The national Statistical Information Service for 2015 found that 520,000 dogs were being held in facilities across the country, but this also included animals destined for the pet trade…
Lady Freethinker has been campaigning for an end to the dog meat trade in South Korea for more than 3 years. In partnership with Save Korean Dogs, Lady Freethinker is currently sponsoring 20 taxi ads in the city of Paju saying “Dogs are not food but family.” The organization also hosts a petition calling on the country’s leaders to end the dog and cat meat trade, which has so far garnered more than 88,000 signatures. SOURCE…
RELATED VIDEO: