It seems that acts of cruelty to animals have now reached a new and higher level of depravity. Apparently South Korea has an extensive market for a very special kind of soup. The soup is being used for the treatment of arthritic symptoms.
According to an article published in the Yanhap News translated by Korean Dogs, “Mr A”, 54 was arrested by the Pusan Bukbu Police on charges of violating South Korea’s Animal Protection Act. Allegedly for more than a year “Mr A” captured and slaughtered approximately 600 stray cats; trapping them with food and then killing them by boiling them alive.
After preparing the carcasses, he then sold the cat meat to local health food stores such as the “Health Food Center”, where they became an expensive but popular sale item for about $14 USD per cat.
However I will spare our readers all the gory details since just thinking about these horrific acts are enough to make me violently ill. It is this writer’s opinion that Mr A’s heinous acts have actually reached a new level of cruelty to animals that are so incredibly depraved that I am loathe to describe them.
The JoongAng Daily reported that the police said that a rumor has been going around that was possibly spread by folks in the elderly community claiming that when cat meat is boiled in a soup it can relieve arthritic pain.
However, the police did advise the community to avoid using illegally obtained cat meat since the country doesn’t regulate cat meat as they do with other meats that are commonly consumed, such as pork and beef.
The police said there were 16 live cats ready for slaughter when they raided Mr A’s secret torture chamber. According to the police he did confess that he had captured and sold around 600 cats. Police expounded on his actions saying that during the over one year period he was able to capitalize royally on his “product” due to the high demand for “cat soup” to ameliorate arthritic symptoms; even though its efficacy is purely a myth. There was no further news about what would become of the 16 remaining cats.
The Health Food stores will not be punished for selling the cat meat because there is no law on the books that were violated. Unfortunately however, according to the police officer in charge, Mr A is only being charged for violating the provisions in the Animal Protection Act which “prohibits the killing by cruel methods and the act of killing an animal with other animals of the same species present at the scene.”
Sadly, since selling stray cats is not a crime, he cannot receive punishment for their sale. Making matters worse, it seems that cats are excluded from the Animal Protection Act. As a result, police are requesting a review by the appropriate governmental authority to find out whether, based on Mr A’s actions, this exclusion is fair.
You can help bring this criminal to justice. While some folks think that petitions are worthless, Change.org does not agree. Please take a moment to sign their petition against the South Korean Dog Meat Cruelty.
Together we can make a difference. What was your reaction to this story? Share your thoughts in a comment.
Michael, the documentary was called “Man & Animal” directed by Tony Thomas, a thoroughly respected documentary maker. It was broadcast in 1995 and I will never forget the scene with the mother taking her son to the cat meat restaurant, choosing a live cat and then following the horrific butchery process the poor cat subjected to. The cat survived the hateful ordeal to the point of it being hacked into pieces.
Eating cat and dog, killing them in the most brutal manner has long been happening and still is happening in:-
Mexico
Texas
Pennsylvania
Canada
Korea
Vietnam
China
Philippines
Australia
Africa
Indonesia
Thailand
Laos
Switzerland/Suisse <— ooh look Europe so civilised!
In some countries, the practice developed in times of massive famine and war. Often countries that have been at war, invaded etc will develop very brutal attitudes to animals (look at Montenegro for example and many eastern europaen countries) and the countries where cat/dog meat eating is prevalent are no exception.
In modern times, the practice is usually blamed on the poor who cannot afford education or decent food. However the truth is, that these practices flourish because it is the newly wealthy within those countries who pick up the practice as something to be proud of having taken part in. In China, in all of the southern provinces, this is the case, cat meat restaurants thrive with yuppie customers, just as they did in Tony's documentary.
Yulin festival got a lot of publicity this year due to activists working hard to get the word out. Boknal is coming up soon, but what the activists avoid mentioning is that this barbarism happens all year around in these countries.
It's easy for us in the west to look away once the explicit material about these hateful festivals fade from our screens.
But every day of every year, these poor animals are used in this obscene way. The bitter irony is that amidst the Asian countries where these obscenities are being carried out, many people are now enthusiastic and doting pet stewards, aware of the importance of good welfare for their pets, but, because they have a bit of money, they can choose to go out, select a cat from a cage and watch it slaughtered for their table.
They do it, not because they are hungry or poor. They do it because it has become aspirational and fashionable. A little similar to the craze of artisanal products. It's a case of "oh look at us, we are so wealthy we can eat this way because we choose to, not because we have to"
In most of these awful hell holes for animals, such barbaric slaughter has never been a tradition.
I regret being unable to read your story because I am a caring and compassionate person moved emotionally by such descriptions of atrocities.
There are some very good comments here which effectively mirror my feelings about this horrible subject. So instead of repeating the information, I will simply say, “this literally makes me sick”!
Vicki, I totally agree.