Hi friends! Mom has fallen desperately behind in posting my wisdom facts and she apologizes profusely as there is just so much going on. But this is important and we need to get back on track.
Yesterday as I was driving my sister to school, I told mom that we need to share with all of you what has been bothering her about South Korea. Now I have told you that South Korea is the only country to farm dogs for consumption but to make this worse, there is actually a recognized and unionized, Dog Meat Association. This Association tries to ensure the longevity of the dog meat industry by urging its members to fix prices based on supply and demand, reduce or increase the number of dogs each farmer is producing and selling, drive down costs associated with dog meat production and maintaining high income for the farmers. They have also been successful in convincing more than 50% of the Korean population that there is a difference between a meat dog and pet dog. They are supposed to abide by many rules and regulations however they do not. For example, the method for killing is supposed to be quick and not in front of other animals. This is not enforced. In fact, the old school Korean families insist that the meat is better through hanging and bleeding out a dog (the meat will remain white) versus anal electrocution where it is a quick method, it blackens the meat. So both methods are still done (along with other methods as well but certainly not as prevalent as these two). Another requirement that is not enforced is the feeding. Did you know that the food distributed to dog meat farms is actually the trash gathered around the city of Seoul? It goes through a quick filtering process removing plastics and the like, and then is compacted into metal barrels that are delivered to the farms. Farmers are legally required to boil the contents to 100 degrees for 30 minutes in order to remove contaminates but this is rarely, if ever, done because of the quantity that would have to be boiled. Farmers mix the contaminated contents with water and this is what the dogs eat. They receive no other water and no other food (maybe the occasional, uncooked chicken heads). I don’t need to tell you how much bacteria infested food they are eating and how this is absorbed in their body and then eaten by the humans. It’s awful and it makes mom sick thinking about it. There is more, but this is just supposed to be some factual information for you to be able to spread awareness.
This is why changing and strengthening the enforcement of legislation is so important. There are 17,000 dog meat farms in South Korea with anywhere from 25 to 2,000 dogs at each. The Dog Meat Association estimates there are 6 million dogs on the farms. We cannot save everyone but we can put an end to the continued slaughter and consumption. We have to raise awareness and fight for my 4-legged friends.
