South Korea's parliament passed a bill on Tuesday that ended South Korea's centuries-old controversial tradition of eating and selling dog meat. The ban comes amid a growing focus on animal welfare, with more and more South Koreans seeing dogs as family pets and growing criticism of how dogs are slaughtered.
In the past, it was believed that eating dog meat would boost physical strength in humid Korea. However, with the growing awareness of dogs as family pets in South Korea, and the emergence of criticism of how dogs are slaughtered, the consumption of dog meat has become less common and is now mainly consumed by some older people.
Activists say most dogs are now slaughtered with electric shocks or hanging, although breeders and traders claim to have improved the slaughter method to make it more humane. However, this statement did not change the public's opinion on the consumption of dog meat.
Yoon Suk-yeol** and his wife, Ms. Kim Kun-hee, are both animal lovers and have adopted six dogs and eight cats together. As a result, Yoon Suk-yeol** has been supporting animal welfare, while Ms. Kim Kun-hee has publicly criticized the consumption of dog meat.
The proposal to ban the consumption of dog meat was put forward by the ruling party and passed in a single parliament with an overwhelming 208 votes in favor and two abstentions, after being approved by the Committee on Agriculture. The new bill will come into effect after a grace period of three years, and offenders will face up to three years in prison or 30 million won (about 2.)$280,000).
Borami Seo, of Humane Society Korea International, an animal protection organization, said, "The bill will end the breeding and slaughtering of dogs for human consumption." We have reached a critical point in saving millions of dogs from a brutal industry. ”
According to a survey by a think tank in Seoul, more than 94% of respondents said they had not consumed dog meat in the past year, and about 93% said they would not do so in the future. This shows that there has been a positive change in public attitudes towards the consumption of dog meat.
Although previous efforts to ban dog meat failed under the industry's **, this bill aims to provide compensation to companies that have exited the dog meat industry. However, farmers and sellers have expressed concern about the ban, which they say will affect about 3,500 farms and 3,000 restaurants.
South Korea has finally achieved its goal of banning the consumption of dog meat, which is an important step in protecting animal welfare. In this era of increased concern for animal rights, more and more people are recognizing that dogs are family pets and not food. Hopefully, this ban will set an example for other countries to reform animal welfare, and let's work together to protect animal rights.