Please agree to our privacy policy to enable news listening. (Central News Agency, Pyeongtaek, Comprehensive Foreign News Report on the 28th) South Korea’s dog meat ban law will take effect in February next year. As the ban approaches, the scale of the industry is shrinking rapidly. However, the whereabouts of hundreds of thousands of dogs originally bred for food purposes are a mystery. Former food dog breeders and animal rights groups speculate that most of them may have been slaughtered. Agence France-Presse reported that South Korea legislated in January 2024 to ban the breeding, slaughtering and sale of food dogs. The law will take effect in February next year, and violators may be sentenced to up to three years in prison. South Korean government data shows that there will be about 400,000 to 450,000 food dogs raised in the country in 2024; the Ministry of Agriculture now estimates that there are only about 20,000 dogs left on breeding farms. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, as of May, 1,265 food dog breeding farms have applied to close their operations, accounting for about 82% of the total. In order to assist the industry in transformation, the government provides subsidies of up to 600,000 won (approximately NT$12,500) per animal to encourage operators to reduce the number of food dogs, but the relevant authorities have not tracked the whereabouts of these dogs. Information obtained by a congressman shows that as of February, only 623 food dogs had been adopted and less than 500 had been sent to shelters. Animal rights groups and former farm owners believe most of the other dogs were likely culled. Kim Young-hwan (transliteration), representative of the animal protection group CARE, said that such a possibility is “infuriating”, but the reality is that domestic animal protection groups lack the resources to rescue more dogs. Former breeder Ju Yeong-bong told AFP that he believed the unaccounted-for dogs “may have been eaten”. He also mentioned: “This policy was forced due to political factors, without meaningful dialogue, and insufficient measures were taken to protect our livelihoods.” Zhu Rongfeng pointed out that many former livestock farmers are trying to change careers and switch to raising other livestock, but the lengthy government review process makes the transition very difficult. Park Joo-yeon, a lawyer and head of the animal rights group PNR, said that for advocates, the legislation would not only end the practice of eating dog meat, but also fill “long-term loopholes” in the regulations on the breeding of food dogs. Unlike cattle or pigs, dogs are not classified as livestock under Korean law, which means that the dog meat industry has not been subject to humane breeding and slaughter regulations for decades. (Compiled by: Hong Peiying) 1150628 Support the Central News Agency’s choice to stand with the facts. Every donation you make is a small amount of support to protect press freedom. Download the Central News Agency’s “First-hand News” APP to get the latest news in real time. The text, pictures and audio and video of this website may not be reproduced, publicly broadcast or publicly transmitted and used without authorization.
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