South Korea To Ban Dog Meat Trade

EAT

Nov 22

Support for the trade has steadily fallen in the country, with the new legislation now set to save around 1 million dogs a year.

A rescuer comforts a dog at a previous dog meat farm rescue in South Korea. Credit: Jean Chung/For HSI

South Korea has announced a “historic” plan to ban the dog meat trade.

Around 1 million dogs are farmed and killed for human consumption each year in the country, but public and political momentum for a ban has built steadily during recent years.

Now, government officials have confirmed a new bill to outlaw dog meat will be introduced by the end of this year.

"It is time to put an end to social conflicts and controversies around dog meat consumption through the enactment of a special act to end it," Yu Eui-dong, policy chief of the ruling People Power Party, said at a conference last week, reports Reuters.

The government bill will include a three-year grace period once legislation is passed, meaning the ban would come into effect in 2027. The delay will help to give current businesses sufficient time to transition out of the industry.

Dogs awaiting rescue at a previous dog meat farm rescue in South Korea. Credit: Jean Chung/For HSI

According to government figures, there are some 1,150 breedings farms and 34 slaughterhouses in South Korea.

“Korean society has reached a tipping point where most people now reject eating dogs and want to see this suffering consigned to the history books,” said JungAh Chae, executive director of Humane Society International (HSI) Korea. “With so many dogs needlessly suffering for a meat that hardly anyone eats, the government’s bill delivers a bold plan that must now urgently be passed by the Assembly so that a legislative ban can be agreed as soon as possible to help South Korea close this miserable chapter in our history and embrace a dog friendly future.”

South Korea’s Dog Meat Trade

Support for dog meat consumption in South Korea has dwindled in recent years, particularly among the younger generation and pet owners. An increase in pet ownership has helped to make the wider public perception of dogs more positive, with over 6 million pet dogs now living in Korean homes. Included in that figure are six dogs adopted by the country’s First Lady Kim Keon Hee and her husband President Yoon Suk Yeol.

That’s helped drive a falling demand for dog meat in the country, with the latest opinion polls by Nielsen Korea reporting that 86 percent of South Koreans won’t eat dog meat in the future and 57 percent support a ban.

However, those in the dog meat industry are organizing protests against the proposed ban, including a threat to release millions of dogs in the capital of Seoul. “We’re so outraged that we’re talking about releasing two million dogs we’re raising near the presidential office, the agriculture minister’s home and offices of lawmakers who have introduced the bills,” Joo Young-bong, head of the Korea Dog Meat Farmers’ Association, told the press.

Positive Progress Against The Global Dog Meat Trade

An estimated 30 million dogs are killed for human consumption every year across Asia, according to Humane Society International. This includes around 10-20 million dogs that are slaughtered in China, 1 million in South Korea, 1 million in Indonesia, and around 5 million in Vietnam.

But South Korea’s announcement this week is part of a broader trend which sees a growing animal protection movement across Asia that is opposed to the dog and cat meat trade.

This trend has recently led to several government bans including Shenzhen, which became the first city in China to ban the consumption of dog and cat meat back in 2020, and the Indian state of Nagaland, infamous for its ‘hidden’ dog meat trade, which announced a complete ban along with heightened legal enforcement.

And earlier this year, South-East Asia’s biggest city, the Indonesian capital city of Jakarta, outlawed the dog and cat meat trade in what campaigners called a “watershed” moment in the fight against the trade.

Dog meat is already banned in Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, and the Philippines.

You can help encourage more positive progress, too. Take action against the dog meat trade now by signing Species Unite’s petition to ban dog meat in Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi.

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