ITD Update 18/08/08

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" It's Their Destiny "

 

News items on Asian animal abuse

 

 

August 18, 2008

 

Korea to Classify Dogs as Livestock

Dear Friends

 

We are saddened to report that South Korea intends to classify

dogs as livestock under a new " Livestock Night Soil Disposal Act " which

comes into effect in September. This will in essense remove the scant

protection given by the Animal Protection Law that excludes dogs from the

list of animals to be farmed for their meat. Dogs will then be considered

like cattle, pigs and chickens.

 

The following is from the Korea Times, 14/08/08.

 

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Dog Farms Under Sanitation Rules

 

 

Dogs are put in a pen on a dog farm. The government plans

to categorize dogs as livestock to regulate the sanitation of farms raising

dogs for human consumption. / Korea Times

 

 

 

By Kim Tae-jong

Staff Reporter

 

The Ministry of Environment said it will categorize dogs as

livestock to regulate the sanitation practices of large-scale dog breeders.

 

The central and local governments have refrained from putting

dogs on a par with cattle, chickens and other livestock as it means an

official recognition of dog meat as food. Under the current law, it is

theoretically illegal to butcher dogs and trade their meat.

 

As dogs are not currently listed as livestock, there are no

legal grounds to regulate dog meat restaurants and those who breed dogs for

human consumption. However, under the revised law, which will come into

effect Sept. 28, large-scale ``dog farmers " must build facilities to handle

the disposal of dog excretion and report it to regional authorities.

 

Dog farms have been one of main sources of pollution, as massive

amounts of dog excretion are dumped into water and soil due to the absence

of regulations, according to the ministry.

 

``The revised law aims to properly regulate dog farms and tackle

the soil and water pollution in areas around them,'' an official from the

ministry said. ``We have received a lot of complaints from local residents

in areas where dogs are raised.''

 

The revised Livestock Night Soil Disposal Act requires dog

farmers with facilities of 60 square meters to have proper waste disposal

facilities and report them to local authorities by Sept. 27. Violators can

face a maximum penalty of a one-year jail term or 10 million won ($10,000)

fine.

 

According to the ministry, there are about 720,000 dog farms

nationwide, raising some 2.3 million dogs as of December of 2005. The

ministry estimated one third of them must follow the new regulations.

 

Still, the status of dogs remains ambiguous, depending on which

laws you adopt.

 

However, laws on the trading of dog meat have yet to include

dogs in the list of livestock, which means the authorities cannot regulate

the trade of dog meat and inspect the sanitation of markets and restaurants

selling dog meat.

 

This blurry definition of dog meat has resulted in the

unsanitary status of dog meat even though many Koreans enjoy eating it.

There were previous attempts to categorize dogs as livestock and recognize

dog meat as food, but they were scrapped due to strong criticism from animal

rights groups inside and outside of the country.

 

Civic groups opposing eating dog meat were reserved in their

reaction to the Environment Ministry's move to classify dogs as livestock.

 

``Given serious pollution issues, we cannot simply oppose the

move to regulate the night soil from dog farms,'' Jun Kyung-ok, director of

the Coexistence of Animal Rights on Earth, said. ``But we will keep an eye

on how it will affect other issues, such as recognition of dog meat as food

or legalization of the dog meat trade.''

 

Seoul City earlier this year planned to propose categorizing

dogs as livestock, citing dog meat is suspected to contain harmful

substances, such as heavy metals, antibiotics and bacteria due to the

absence of proper regulations. But it fell short of carrying it through as

it confronted strong criticism and only began inspections of restaurants

that serve dog meat.

 

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/08/117_29358.html

 

 

 

--

 

 

Please visit CARE's web site at

http://care.savedogsinkorea.com-a.googlepages.com/main24

They have provided more background information, a petition,

sample protest emails and full contact details.

 

Our continued thanks for your support and for caring enough to

want to make a difference.

 

From all the team at ITD

 

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