CNN animal alert: S. Korea's dogs find new champions

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CNN Alerts: animal alert

 

S. Korea's dogs find new champions

08/03/06 12:23 AM, EDT

Animal rights organizations in South Korea are stepping up their

campaigns to stamp out the traditional practice of eating

" boshintang " -- dog soup -- during the hot and humid summer months.

Read the full story at

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/08/02/skorea.animal.protest/index.html

 

 

 

S. Korea's dogs find new champions

 

Animal rights groups increase protests against dog soup

 

By Shirley Han Ying

For CNN

 

SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) -- Animal rights organizations in South

Korea are stepping up their campaigns to stamp out the traditional

practice of eating " boshintang " -- dog soup -- during the hot and

humid summer months.

 

To highlight the pain and suffering endured by the animals when they

are slaughtered, the Korean Animal Rights Advocates (KARA) last week

held a street performance at Insa-dong in downtown Seoul.

 

The performance, on July 26, portrayed the inhumane slaughter of dogs

in a Korean traditional market known as the Moran market.

 

During the performance, a huge bag containing the internal organs

from slaughtered dogs was slit open by a butcher, spilling the gory

contents onto the pavement. The mostly Korean audience gasped at the

brutality of the scene.

 

Artist Hassen Chung, who directed the performance, said the daily

slaughter of dogs at the Moran market was " not a part of Korean

tradition or custom. "

 

" It is purely and simply the most vicious act of violence that can

(be) done to animals. This pernicious habit must end and disappear

for good. There cannot be any more excuses for the existence of the

market that has become the symbol of animal torture. "

 

Tiny cages

 

Hyo-jin Kim, the director of KARA, told The Korea Herald newspaper

that more than 3 million dogs are annually slaughtered for their meat

in Korea. To keep costs down, the dogs are kept in tiny cages to

minimize their movement, Kim said. The conditions under which they

are kept cause unbearable stress to the animals, he added.

 

KARA began its anti-dog-eating campaign in 2002. As dog meat is very

popular in Korea, the group experienced a lot of difficulty in

promoting the campaign.

 

" There are many people that believe this campaign is an invasion of

Western imperialism on Korean tradition, " Kim said. " Those people are

overwhelmed with such nationalism that even faced with logic on why

dog meat should be banned, they choose to ignore it, " she said.

 

" There are also people that try to differentiate between dogs that

are bred only for their meat and dogs that are meant to be kept as

companion animals, " Kim added. " Animal rights activists are

tremendously outnumbered in a country where most people are ignorant

toward animal protection. "

 

Founded in 2002, KARA began with a group of pet lovers seeking to

change attitudes toward animals in Korean society and make South

Korea a better place for both people and animals. On December 30,

2005, KARA was registered as a nongovernmental organization and now

has some 7,000 members.

 

KARA is focusing now on how to stop the South Korean government

legalizing dog meat in Korea. The group has participated in several

protest demonstrations and political actions against the " dog meat

lobby. " It has also submitted numerous petitions and research

documents to South Korean government agencies and private

organizations.

 

 

 

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--

Kim Bartlett, Publisher of ANIMAL PEOPLE Newspaper

Postal mailing address: P.O. Box 960, Clinton WA 98236 U.S.A.

CORRECT EMAIL ADDRESS IS: <ANPEOPLE

Website: http://www.animalpeoplenews.org/ with French and Spanish

language subsections.