This is in follow-up to the re-post Mom did regarding the Dog Meat Association in South Korea. Upon further research and reading, Mom got additional insight into how the processing of food waste is really handled. The Control of Livestock and Fish Feed Act requires the collected food waste to be processed through a licensed recycling facility where it would be sterilized and tested for contaminants such as salmonella and selenium contents. This feed is distributed to pig farmers. However, in all their wisdom, the Ministry of Environment decided to issue processing licenses to dog farmers who also wanted to similarly use this waste as feed. But guess what? They never bothered to inspect or check in on these dog farms to ensure compliance of the standards. They single-handedly gave the dog farmers free reign to feed the dogs contaminated garbage which in turn leads to threats of public health and environmental pollution (caused by the secondary dumping grounds) and, most importantly, the governmental contributions towards animal abuse.
Recently in the news in South Korea there was an outbreak of bird flu. A poultry slaughterhouse in Eumseong had a mass culling (separation) of 40 million birds. Of the 22 animal waste management businesses that collected waste from this slaughterhouse for processing into food for the farms, 10 were dog meat farms! So the recent killings of the thousands of pigs in Gimpo, South Korea was the result of these pigs being fed contaminated trash and becoming infected with the bird flu. However, note, there was no killing of the dogs for the same reason, and they were fed the same trash which can only be concluded that the dog meat will indeed be infected and transferred to humans upon consumption. This is a huge violation with the World Health Organization let alone the South Korean government’s unregulated laws.
The good news, as a result, the group KARA (Korean Animal Rights Advocates) are requesting a meeting with the Minister of the Environment and demanding an immediate investigation and survey of the distribution of food waste to the dog meat farms. While this may seem insignificant, we want you to understand this is a very positive step. Constant pressure on government agencies to uphold the laws is imperative for change. Mom will be following this to see what progress is being made and will keep you updated!
And remember, Willow’s Wish is to educate one person at a time, one day at a time!
