Korean Dog and Cat Campaign

[Guest guest]

Please consider writing a letter to the " Herald. " Thank you.

 

Pat

--------

Subject:

 

Korean Dog and Cat Campaign

Date:

 

Tue, 7 Feb 2006 15:38 EST

 

" Kristie Phelps " <kristie

To:

 

" Kristie Phelps " <kristie

 

Dear Friends of Korean Animals,

 

 

 

We hope you are having a wonderful New Year. As we settle into the New Year, we

hope this will be a truly happy one for animals. In the coming year, we have

some big plans for our fight against the brutal, illegal trade in dog and cat

flesh. We will keep you posted of our campaigns and success and what you can do

to help. In the meantime, we hope you will continue your involvement and get

even more active in this campaign. If you need posters, leaflets, postcards, or

if there is anything more we can do to assist you in your work for animals,

please don’t hesitate to let me know. Below is an email from our colleagues at

the Korean Animal Protection Society including an article that ran in the Korea

Herald. Please take a moment to write a letter to the Herald urging the Korean

Government to enforce laws prohibiting the sale of dog and cat meat. Send

letters to: jylee. We look forward to a successful year! Thank you

for all that you do for animals.

 

 

Sincerely,

Kristie Phelps

Campaigns and Communications Manager

Tel.: 757-423-0093

Fax: 866-464-3098

 

 

“It’s a matter of taking the side of the weak against the strong, something

the best people have always done.â€

 

Harriet Beecher Stowe

 

 

 

--

 

 

 

The lunar calendar has just moved into the Year of the Dog and we hope we can do

more this year to change the tragic fate of many Korean dogs and cats and bring

a better future to all Korean animals. Last year alone, KAPS rescued more than

2000 dogs and cats from the peril of street life or the hands of animal abusers.

Without KAPS’ intervention, many of these animals would have suffered an act

of ultimate betrayal and miserable death. KAPS’ invaluable public education

program for responsible pet ownership continues with the help of local

government district offices, vets and Korean supporters. Our campaign for the

ban on the consumption of dog/cat meat has attracted much support both inside

and outside Korea. However, as you will see from the below newspaper article, we

still have a long way to go to realize our vision of a compassionate Korea.

 

 

 

With your help, we will continue our campaign to end the dog/cat meat trade as

well as providing rescue/shelter services to needy animals in Korea and

educating the public about animal protection. This year, we would also like to

make more efforts on persuading the Korean media to work with us rather than

against us. The Korean newspapers have shown more positive attitudes towards

dogs so far this year and we would like to see this trend continue. We would

like to grow in size in order to develop a stronger voice and exercise more

influence on behalf of Korean animals. Through continuing and expanding our

work for Korean animals, we hope to establish a solid foundation for the end of

the dog/cat meat trade and a better future for animals in this Year of the Dog.

We can only achieve these ends with your help. We thank all our supporters who

have helped us by making donations, raising vital funds for Korean animals,

promoting our work and/or helping us with our letter writing campaigns. We hope

that you will continue to be the special friends of Korean animals.

 

The below article was originally published by the Korea Herald and could be

found on:

http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2006/01/31/200601310027.asp

 

Mixed fate for Korea's mutts in Year of Dog

 

As the lunar calendar moves into the Year of the Dog, Korean pets face a mixed

fate; some dogs will get the royal treatment, while others will be neglected.

Picture book pooches will be dressed in cute outfits and have their tails dyed.

They will be taken to dog cafes - places where pet dogs are pampered - in stark

contrast to the fate of other dogs headed for the pot in " boshintang "

restaurants.

 

The extremes - from mollycoddling to abandonment - in the treatment of dogs come

from a boom in the pet industry that happened rapidly while old practices

remained.

 

Before the rise of pet shops 20 years ago, dogs were usually left tied up

outside and treated as guard dogs and not considered domestic animals as smaller

breeds are today.

 

" In my experience, most Koreans who allow their dogs to live indoors tend to

spoil them while many of those who keep them outside often forget they exist and

neglect them, " Yoon Kerr of International Aid for Korean Animals told The Korea

Herald.

 

The larger dogs that are left outside are the ones that have the most problems,

said Dr. Kwon Dae-hyun, a veterinarian at the Chung Wha Animal Hospital in

Seoul.

 

He said many people take on dogs not realizing the full responsibility, and the

dogs are abandoned or mistreated because of a lack of education in animal

welfare.

 

" People don't know what they have to do, " he said, referring to the basic need

of dogs to receive regular food, water, exercise and vaccinations.

 

While Kwon blames the lack of education for the mistreatment of dogs, Kerr

pinpoints the dog meat trade for the widespread lack of compassion for animals

in Korea.

 

" The dog meat trade and widespread contempt for animals resulting from such a

trade seriously discourages and undermines the development of responsible pet

ownership. When people do not respect animals or know that their pet animals can

be regarded as food by others, it is easy to neglect pets or abandon them when

they become inconvenient through illness or bad behavior. "

 

Prior to the 1988 Olympic Games and the 2002 World Cup, Korea came under

international scrutiny for its dog-eating, creating a stereotype that suggested

all Koreans ate dog, though only a minority do.

 

Many here were quick to point out that pet owners do not eat dog, and that dogs

for consumption are a different breed from those kept as pets. In the face of

strong international criticism, many defended the practice as a cultural custom

dating back to the days when Korea was poor and dogs provided the only available

meat.

 

The Korean Animal Protection Society says in those days, there was no trade in

dog meat and since then an industry has grown out of the mythical health

benefits of dog meat - particularly for men's virility. KAPS says that even

though millions of Koreans love dogs, every year a minority still consumes 2

million dogs, which are tortured before being killed.

 

Kerr (an international representative of KAPS in the United Kingdom) said that

because of this trade, there is no widespread compassion for animals in Korea, a

noticeable contrast to attitudes in Britain, " When people see owners who keep

their dogs in the garden with very little exercise, most British think badly of

the owner and seriously contemplate reporting their findings to the RSPCA (Royal

Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) as a case of animal cruelty.

 

" In Korea, there are many people who keep their family dogs in their garden,

neglecting their physical and emotional health and even failing to provide fresh

water or warm shelter, and yet attract little criticism. In Britain, the general

public does not tolerate people maltreating their own dogs. In Korea, there is

much less public pressure against owners who neglect or maltreat their dogs, "

said Kerr.

 

In Britain there is a general awareness because of organizations such as the

RSPCA and campaigns such as " a dog is for life, not just for Christmas, " that

promote responsible long-term pet ownership.

 

In Korea, dogs that are abandoned generally face an unfortunate fate as there is

no universal system to deal with them. The lucky ones may be taken care of at a

shelter, such as the one KAPS runs, but there is a limit on how long they can

stay there if nobody wants to adopt them.

 

" In Korea most people do not want to adopt a poor dog. They want a cute healthy

dog, " said Dr. Kwon.

 

He said that in his experience, it is usually only foreigners who want to rescue

abandoned dogs.

 

One such foreigner is Dave Peacock from Scotland who has rescued between 15 and

20 animals during his time in Korea and found homes for them with other

Westerners.

 

Right now, he and his wife share their home with three dogs, one of which is a

thoroughbred Jindo that was tied up for most of its life and mistreated. They

used to pass her every day and play with her until the owner told them to take

her away. They named her Cindy, after Cinderella because she was filthy,

underfed and neglected and " now she is a beautiful princess. "

 

It cost a lot of money to treat Cindy for heartworm - a life-threatening

parasite - but Peacock doesn't care about the money. He said that in the West,

dogs are treated as part of the family and he hates to see animals being

mistreated. Like Dr. Kwon, he blames the situation on a lack of education.

Peacock said he is shocked that people abandon their dogs and has heard many

times of dogs in Korea disappearing and " going to the countryside. "

 

Now he struggles every time he sees neglected animals because he has exhausted

all his means to take care of them. " I find it very difficult, " he said.

 

While the situation may seem bleak, Dr. Kwon thinks that things are getting

slightly better. Compared to the situation of the last lunar Year of the Dog,

the fate of Korean dogs seems to be more fortunate.

 

" As the number of people who treat dogs like their own family members and

closely interact with them grows, more people realize and appreciate the social

and loving nature of dogs and the benefits of such a close interaction. This has

positive effects on people's general attitudes toward dogs and I believe that

Koreans are treating their dogs better than in the past, " Kerr said.

 

by Jane Cooper (jane)

2006.01.31