Sunnan's speech at the HK animal conference

[Guest guest]

The speech of Sunnan (the president of Korea Animal

Protection Society) is now published in Friends of

Dogs site both in English and German. Please circulate

far and wide. To see the sticker Sunnan made for the

beautiful animals in Korea, please click one of the

below links.

 

http://www.friendsofdogs.net/KAPSoppose.html

http://www.geocities.com/yoons_choi/KAPSoppose.html

 

I would like to thank Kim Singer for her excellent

proofreading of the translated speech. Also my big

thank you to Thomas Wachter for his kind German

translation.

 

The German translation can be found in the below

pages.

http://www.friendsofdogs.net/KAPSopposeG.html

http://www.geocities.com/yoons_choi/KAPSopposeG.html

 

Sunnan's speech at the HK conference

Recently, I received some photographs of dogs at a

Korean dog market. The Daily Mail's photographer Mark

Lloyds had courageously taken them when a team from

the paper visited Korea to do a special report on the

dog meat issue. In my time, I have heard so many

stories about animal-abuse, and I've seen so many

photographs of abused animals before these, that I

already felt wearied, and had thought I had virtually

no more capacity for feelings of sadness left within

me. I studied the photographs without realising the

profound effect they would have on me. I witnessed the

eyes of the caged dogs, their faces full of sadness,

fear and loneliness. Yet I also saw hope from the same

eyes; hope that someone may one day bring them home

and love them.

 

To this day, these images have never left me. I

reflected that these particular dogs were by now

already in peace and had finally found the release

they so deserved from a loving God. I tried to console

myself with this belief, but whenever I thought of

their loving, trusting eyes, it invariably brought me

to tears. I felt that the dogs in these images were

somehow urging me to do more for other animals still

living.

 

When human rights are abused, many countries will

strongly urge the offending nation to change its ways.

They will not interfere, however, over a matter of

animal abuse, or the practice of eating dogs and cats.

I believe this is wrong, and that the abuse of animals

so often leads to an abuse of human rights too. Both

types of abuse influence world peace in a negative way

and every nation must help each other to root out

these evils.

 

For about 4-5 years, the practice of eating dogs and

animal abuse in a few Asian countries became a big

international controversy. But it is principally

within Korea where the practice of eating dogs is most

widely known to the world. The reason for this was

because the Korean government refused to view the

matter as an animal abuse issue and instead tried to

justify dog meat on the grounds that it was a

traditional Korean food. Because of this, many

foreigners now believe that eating dogs is an

established Korean tradition and that all Koreans

enjoy eating dog meat.

 

I was outraged that the Korean dog meat eaters would

distort our history and culture and that they would

not hesitate to say things that would ruin Korea's

image purely in order to maintain their eating habits.

I was even more angered, however, by the fact that

even some foreign media would help the dog eaters to

try to justify this cruel practice. Yes, we have dog

meat supporters in Korea, but we also have many people

who are opposed to dog meat, and the number of people

opposing it is growing.

 

Within Korea's animal protection groups, we have our

own reasons for objecting to dog meat. We've tried to

persuade the government and the dog meat supporters to

change their views by reminding them that dog meat has

caused a lot of damage to Korea and the Korean people.

Foreign reporters and producers don't often understand

Korea's situation, its history or its traditions. Nor

do they understand the kind of damage the dog-eating

practice has caused to us as a nation, and yet so

often they appear to side with the dog eaters. This is

effectively an act of discrimination against the

majority of Koreans who do not eat dogs, and

especially those Koreans who are actively trying to

protect animals. Certainly, this attitude has been an

obstacle to our efforts to establish a positive animal

protection environment in Korea.

 

Thanks to such foreign media, the dog meat supporters

and animal abusers now seek -without shame - to

promote dog meat as traditional food and to encourage

the entire world into participating in the practice.

In fact, I sometimes fear that dog meat may indeed

spread to the entire world. On the 31st of July, 2003,

Jungang Ilbo, Korea's major daily newspaper has

published a big picture which showed German Taegundo

players eating dog meat with smiling faces. Such

photographs only deepen my fear.

 

This situation is deeply depressing. Korea's dog meat

traders earn a great deal of money. Therefore they

lobby well and have a loud and influential voice. They

were so good at lobbying that even some members of

parliament tried to introduce a law legalising dog

meat, thereby inevitably resulting in increased animal

abuse. The rich dog meat traders, the media and

politicians who support dog meat, clearly have more

power than ourselves. The foreign media tend to listen

only to their voices and to ignore ours. The media

both home and abroad, while insisting on fairness,

give a lot of space to the views of the animal abusers

and offer much less space to our views.

 

Dog eating journalists and dog meat traders in Korea

have been trying their best to introduce dog meat to

foreign visitors who come to Korea on business or for

other reasons. The visitors will often sample the meat

out of what they see as diplomacy and politeness. The

Taegundo players could not have eaten dog meat in

Germany. Similarly, the visitors from Germany,

Britain, Canada, Austria and America try dog meat

because of the relentless pestering from Korean dog

eaters. Undoubtedly, they would have never thought to

try dog meat in their own countries. Pro dog meat

journalists and dog meat supporters show these scenes

on TV and suggest that we should eat dog meat without

either shame or disgust because foreigners are also

eating it. If the truth were known, there are actually

many dog eaters in Korea who do feel ashamed and

embarrassed about their behaviour. Conversely, when

they see foreigners trying dog meat, it can only help

serve to rid them of their shame and disgust.

 

I would like to make it absolutely clear that dog meat

is not Korea's traditional food. Killing and eating

dogs is abusing the trust of dogs and the practice

will surely lead to an increase in animal abuse

generally. It encourages Korean people to view animals

with contempt and discourage them from showing

kindness and understanding to the weak. It is

therefore an obstacle to a kinder society for both

animals and humans. The practice also has negative

effects on public health - despite all the lies

generated by dog meat traders. According to a recent

newspaper report, the consumption of dog meat actually

increases the chance of developing cancer. This was

the finding of doctors at a leading teaching hospital.

Let us be clear, dog meat, which has put Korea's

international image squarely into the gutter, is no

traditional food.

 

Some of our ancestors did eat dog meat - but purely to

avoid starvation in times of famine. However, our true

traditional dishes are very healthy, because they are

vegetarian. Barley rice, Kimchi, bean sauce and

seasoned vegetables are our true traditional dishes,

enjoyed by both our ancestors and by the current

generation. Our ancestors did not enjoy dog meat. On

the contrary, they taught us to show compassion to

animals that cannot speak for themselves. They

recommended that we do not eat animals that display

affection. All Koreans who inherited such kind and

compassionate dispositions from our ancestors must

surely have the potential to be compassionate.

Undoubtedly, some Koreans are today eating dogs out of

ignorance. If we can correct this fault, Korea shall

no longer be a cause of shame to its ancestors, and

our country will once again become a nation of animal

lovers of which we can all be proud.

 

Therefore I appeal to everyone here not to turn away

from the suffering of animals in Korea and China. If

people just show that they care, and the media around

the world support our efforts to end the practice of

eating companion animals, this must surely cause the

Korean and Chinese governments to reflect upon the

great harm these practices are causing to the

interests of their country.

 

We will continue our campaign within Korea and we will

certainly intensify our efforts to lobby the Korean

government and media. We have recently created two

stickers with photographs of a puppy and a cat. These

stickers also bear a caption that represents what the

eyes of the animals are telling us: 'Please don't eat

me. I am your friend.' We have recently sent out a

letter of appeal with the stickers to all government

officials, members of Parliament and media personnel.

We also plan to send letters to religious leaders as

well with renewed vigour. We will send out information

as regularly as possible, covering all aspects ranging

from the harm the dog-eating practice is causing to

the emotional health of Korean children, to the

medical evidence that dog and cat meat increases the

risk of getting cancer, stroke, high blood pressure

etc. We will also emphasise the fact that this

practice is not in the interests of Korean people, and

point out that our image suffers as much as our trade.

 

We will also carry on our public education and our

sanctuary work. We will continue to educate the Korean

public over the importance of spaying and neutering.

The rise in pet ownership also means that our efforts

to inform people about responsible pet ownership have

even more importance. A project for a new sanctuary,

which will also serve as an animal welfare education

centre, is finally on the way, thanks to support from

caring people at home and abroad.

 

We do not assume that the dog and cat meat industry

will be easily eradicated or that a humane future for

Korea's animals can be secured overnight. However, by

employing a realistic and persistent approach, allied

to the support of caring people from all around the

world, we can one day achieve our dream of a more

compassionate Korea for both its animals and its

people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Friends of dogs

http://www.friendsofdogs.net

Dogs brighten our life with their gift to love and bond. It is our turn to help

our dogs. Please help organisations who are fighting to get dogs out of food

chain.

 

http://www.koreananimals.org/

http://www.animalsasia.org/

http://www.linisgobyerno.org/special_projects.htm

 

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