Friends, as many of you have seen my posts and are aware, mom is in South Korea this week to help and protest Boknal. I want to give you just a brief understanding of this festival. It differs from the Yulin Festival as it is not a week long, rather it spans a two month period (or roughly 21 days). Instead of 10,000 dogs being slaughtered, it is estimated that nearly two-thirds of the annual consumption of dog meat in S. Korea occurs during this time and that count is roughly 1.5 million. I am not sure why Boknal doesn’t get the media coverage as Yulin as it is grossly worse.
Boknal or also called Sambok is referred to as the dog days days of summer in S. Korea. It definitely differs from Yulin as this “festival” has been happening for well over 200 years. It is a part of their culture and history. However the killing and slaughtering, the torture and pain, does not differ and it is equally as horrific. Boknal occurs during the three hottest days of the year in S. Korea. The first day is Cho Bok which is in mid July around the 11th. The second is Joong Bok which is considered mid-summer around July 28th and lastly Mal Bok occurring around August 7th commemorating the end of summer. During these sweltering days, they believe that there are cooling and medicinal powers achieved from the consumption of dog (and cat) meat. There is no scientific evidence to support this. The common “meat dog” in S. Korea is the Nureongi or Jindo dog. Sadly these are the ones that are farmed here for their meat however they certainly eat many other breeds as well.
I will do another post about Boknal tomorrow especially since mom is there helping – it’s the best I can do to help from here. Please keep my poor friends in your hearts and send energy to help to alleviate their suffering during this time.
