Guest guest Posted January 23, 2005 Report Share Posted January 23, 2005 Yoon Kerr [yoons_choi] Saturday, January 22, 2005 8:55 AM Update on Korean dogs and cats from IAKA and KAPS Dear Friends, Forwarded is the latest IAKA update on Korean dogs and cats. The Korean government tried to legalise dog meat trade in the past and is likely to do so again. Unfortunately the Korean government never seems to understand how seriously the dog and cat meat trade damages Korea's interests. The only way to stop them from continuously seeking ways of legalising dog meat while doing nothing or as little as possible to clamp down the trade is to deliver a coherent and strong message against the inhumane trade from all sides. With endangered wildlife, the Korean government passed a strong law against not only those who kill the animals but also those who consume them. They never attempted to defend the practice of eating parts of a tiger, a bear, etc. as Korea's culture. This was possible because no animal group told the Korean government to kill them humanely and then go on to consuming them. Therefore, please remember and actively inform people that what the Korean government need to hear is not ‘please don’t torture the animals while you are killing them’ but ‘stop the dog and cat meat trade and expel the groundless health myth’. Otherwise, the Korean government will never permanently give up its intention of legalising dog meat. Please give all your support if IAKA and KAPS decide to initiate another major protest campaign, which will depend on the outcome of their talk with the Korean government. In the meantime, continue to participate in IAKA and KAPS’ existing campaign. http://www.koreananimals.org/help.htm#government Please also help Korean animals by correcting the misconceptions that prolonged the misery of Korean dogs and cats. We cannot solve a problem without tackling the cause. You can find many useful articles on the subject from the below link. Please share them with as many people as possible. http://www.friendsofdogs.net/articles.html .. Thank you for your kindness to Korean animals. Yoon iakakaps [iaka] 19 January 2005 17:43 iaka Update Dear friends of Korean animals, As you all know, we have been recently campaigning against the Korean government's attempt to legalize dog and cat meat trade through the definition of pet animals. Although we were rather disappointed that the Korean government did not accept our proposed definition of companion animals which would have established a solid legal basis for protecting all dogs and cats as companion animals in the Animal Protection Law Amendment, we were much relieved when KAPS was told that the Ministry of Agriculture decided to drop the dangerous definition of pet animals. Unfortunately it came to our notice that the Ministry of Agriculture is under pressure to change its mind and may need to introduce a new definition of companion animals as below. 'Companion animals are animals mainly raised for companionship and emotional development, as designated by the Ministry of Agriculture.' This means that the Ministry of Agriculture will have the power to decide what counts as companion animals. If the Ministry of Agriculture decide that companion animals are registered dogs and cats and exclude dogs and cats raised for human consumption from the object of the pet animal registration scheme they are going to introduce, this will effectively justify the distinction between pet dogs/cats and food dogs/cats in the eyes of law. We are very concerned about this development and are talking to the Ministry of Agriculture to adopt our proposed definition of companion animals if they intend to introduce a definition of companion animals in the Amendment. That the Korean government did not give up their intention of legalizing dog and cat meat trade has been confirmed by the fact that the Ministry of office for Government Policy Coordination held a meeting to discuss hygienic control of the dog meat. Without tacit approval of dog meat, such a meeting cannot take place. We cannot but suspect that the government officials were trying to discuss a possibility of legalizing dog meat trade after making a legal distinction between pet dogs and food dogs. The participants in the meeting included the infamous Dr. Dogmeat (a well-known fanatical advocate of dog meat) and a representative from dog meat trade, a clear sign that the discussion was never intended for genuine hygiene or environmental concern but was held to please dog meat traders. The Ministry of Agriculture assured Sunnan that the legalization of dog meat cannot happen at least for a while because there is no consensus for legalizing dog meat among the general public in Korea and no government department wants to take on such an unpopular and troublesome task. We cannot however take comfort from their assurance if they keep trying to legitimize the distinction between food dogs/cats and pet dogs/cats through a definition of companion animals. We are waiting for a reply from the Ministry of Agriculture over our concerns. We will start another major protest campaign and inform all of you if we suspect that the Korean government will legalize or take serious steps to legalize dog meat anytime soon. Yours sincerely, Sunnan and Kyenan Kum International Aid for Korean Animals Korea Animal Protection Society P.O. Box 20600, Oakland, 94620-0600, USA www.koreananimals.org iaka (Tel.) 510-271-6795 (Fax) 510-451-0643 ______ Friends of dogs http://www.friendsofdogs.net Dogs brighten our life with their gift of love. It is our turn to help our dogs. Please help organisations who are fighting to get dogs out of the food chain. http://www.koreananimals.org/ http://www.animalsasia.org/ http://www.linisgobyerno.org/special_projects.htm Does your mail provider give you a FREE online calendar? does. Get Mail [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] For more information on Asian animal issues, please use the search feature on the AAPN website: http://www.aapn.org/ or search the list archives at: aapn Please feel free to send any relevant news or comments to the list at aapn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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