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Animal Welfare South Korea

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This is not going to be politically correct. I don’t believe in political correctness when it hides abuse and injustice. I also believe that we are all one species of human animal. With the advent of the internet that breaks down boundaries and creates worldwide networks we have the opportunity and right to observe and comment on the behavior of segments of society in countries other than our own.

South Korea is a dynamic country. They have just finished in 5th place in the London Olympics ahead of Germany and France. Their manufacturing industry includes household names such as Samsung and their automotive industry includes Hyundai and Kia. This is an advanced country.

They have a nice piece of animal welfare legislation too: South Korean Animal Protection Act of 2007. This modern act contains provisions that protect animals such as:

ARTICLE 3. PROTECTION OF ANIMALS – everyone should recognize the dignity and value of animals’ lives and shall try, to the maximum extent possible, to preserve the animals’ natural habits and to guarantee their normal lives.

ARTICLE 7. PROHIBITION OF MISTREATMENT OF ANIMALS – No one shall commit the following acts toward animals:

  • Act of killing by brutal methods, such as hanging

No one shall commit the following abusive acts toward animals:

  • Act of harming an animal with instrument or substance.

ARTICLE 11. METHODS OF SLAUGHTERING ANIMALS

  1. When slaughtering an animal in accordance with the “Law on Livestock Slaughtering” or the “Law on Livestock Disease Prevention,” the methods selected by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry must be used to minimize pain, such as the gas or electrocution method.
  2. If an animal must be killed under a different circumstance than that of Section 1, a method that minimizes pain must be used.

These are examples that I have picked out as relevant to the cruel and highly abusive South Korean dog and cat meat trade. Normally at this stage in an article, a segment of visitors to this site start saying things such as:

If you eat the meat of livestock what is the difference with cats and dogs?

Well I won’t get into that argument today. What I will say is this…

A portion of South Korean people (not all of them) think that a when you eat cat or dog meat it is important that the cat or dog is killed in such a way that it is highly stressed during the killing process. This releases adrenaline and the belief is that the meat tastes better. Therefore cat or dog should suffer extreme pain and distress when being killed. The exact opposite to what people should be doing when killing animals for meat.

I am not going to write about how the butchers ensure the cat or dog endures massive pain and distress because it is too distressing to read about. But I’ll just say these words: hanging, blow torch.

The South Korean law completely outlaws such horrendous behavior. Yet it goes on unabated and accepted. That can only be because there is no enforcement which renders the law useless.

The South Korean Animal Protection Act of 2007 is pure window dressing and is worse than having no law.

The dog farms are located in Yeonggwang:


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In Seoul the attitude towards dogs and cats appears to be different. Dogs tortured and killed for meat are called ‘Yellow Dog”. A yellow dog is probably being tortured as you read this.

This page has the entire statute that I referred to. The translation is not official. Can someone provide me with a clue as to why a segment of South Korean society can be this cruel and emotionally dead?

Comments

Animal Welfare South Korea — 6 Comments

  1. I really think that people who slaughter animals and birds in any way at all must enjoy the feeling of power over the frightened helpless creatures and even more so the ones who make the killing of the suffering animal prolonged and painful.
    They can not be called human as they are inhumane!
    I once read somewhere that the more the animal suffers in dying, the more the poison of that suffering enters the body of the person eating the flesh, I do hope that is right and that those who enjoy eating flesh from other living beings who have been tortured, die a long and slow and painful death themselves.

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    • I like that idea. The more pain you inflict on an animal the more you damage yourself. I think that is actually true whether you eat the animal or not. If you do bad things I believe it hurts you psychologically. It hurts your conscience what might be left of it. There is a sort of natural balance between doing bad and feeling bad. Likewise doing good things makes us feel better. Doing good is in part a selfish act. But that is normal and OK.

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    • I couldn’t agree with you more Ruth – on every single thing that you have said. !!!! I don’t like the idea of ANY Animals being killed for Humans to eat – But if it is going to happen – then the killing of the poor Animal has to be done in a HUMANE way. If the Animal suffers at the time of death – Then it is quite clearly = Animal Cruelty. We have to all stand together against Animal abuse and suffering. Vivien.

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  2. Just as there are international standards and organisations to protect humanity, so should the same exist for animals – and it’s principles should be enforced. A UN for animals of sorts. China and Korea, many countries are an abomination with regard to animal welfare. We have to continue fighting to make it matter more – a long, hard and uphill battle it is.

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    • Well said Marc. I firmly believe the same. We need international laws. The UN is almost a failure so we are a million miles from getting our act together to protect animals.

      As for wildlife we have CITES but it is an agreement that is abused routinely.

      I despair sometimes at the standards of behavior that we set.

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