North Koreans Have Pet Dogs ‘Confiscated’ After Ban On Pet Ownership

Owners are being forced to give up their dogs amid national food shortages, with pets being sent to restaurants and state-run zoos.

Pet dogs are reportedly being confiscated by authorities in North Korea, with some even being used to supply dog meat for restaurants amid national food shortages.  

"Authorities have identified households with pet dogs and are forcing them to give them up or forcefully confiscating them and putting them down", a source told South Korean paper The Chosunilbo.  

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reportedly issued a ban on pet ownership back in July, labelling it “a tainted trend by bourgeois ideology”. This move is thought to be an attempt at easing public discontent amid a national economic crisis, which has already led to food shortages.  

Pet dogs are said to have become a symbol of capitalist “decadence” in the country, with dogs mostly owned by the wealthy elite in the capital of Pyongyang. 

"Ordinary people raise pigs and livestock on their porches, but high-ranking officials and the wealthy own pet dogs, which stoked some resentment," the source explains. 

Some of the confiscated dogs have been sent to dog meat restaurants, while others have been sent to state-run zoos. 

Pet owners are “cursing Kim Jong-un behind his back”, but there is little they can do, added The Chosunilbo’s source. 

Elsewhere across the world, dog meat is coming under increased scrutiny. In April this year, Shenzhen became the first city in China to ban the consumption and production of dog meat. And just last month, the dog meat trade was banned in Nagaland, an Indian state where 30,000 dogs are usually slaughtered each year. 

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