S. Korea outlaws dog meat industry

SEOUL — South Korea's parliament on Tuesday passed a bill banning breeding, slaughtering and selling dogs for their meat, a move that has drawn mixed responses.

Some angry dog farmers said they plan to challenge the bill's constitutionality and hold protest rallies, a sign of continued heated debate over the ban.

The National Assembly passed the bill by a 208-0 vote. It will come into effect after it receives final approval from President Yoon Suk-yeol.

After a three-year grace period, the bill would make slaughtering, breeding and sales of dog meat for human consumption illegal from 2027 and punishable by two to three years in prison or a fine of up to 30 million won ($23,000). It doesn't provide penalties for eating dog meat.

Dog meat consumption, a centuries-old practice on the Korean Peninsula, is neither explicitly banned nor legalized in South Korea, The Associated Press reported. Recent surveys show over half of South Koreans want dog meat banned and a majority no longer eat it. But one in every three South Koreans still opposes a ban even though they don't consume it.

Activists welcomed the bill, calling it "history in the making".

"We reached a tipping point where most Korean citizens reject eating dogs and want to see this suffering consigned to the history books, and today our policymakers have acted decisively to make that a reality," Chae Jung-ah, executive director of Humane Society International's Korea office, said in a statement.

In a new survey released on Monday by Seoul-based think tank Animal Welfare Awareness, Research and Education, 9 out of 10 people in South Korea said they would not eat dog meat in the future.

Opposition voiced

Previous efforts to ban dog meat have run into fierce opposition from farmers who breed dogs for consumption. The new law will provide compensation so that businesses can move out of the trade.

Around 1,100 dog farms breed hundreds of thousands of dogs each year which are served in restaurants across the country, Agence France-Presse reported citing government figures.

Farmers were extremely upset by the bill's passage.

"This is a clear case of state violence as they are infringing on our freedom to choose our occupation. We can't just sit by idly," said Son Won-hak, a farmer and former leader of a farmers' association.

Son said dog farmers will file a petition with the Constitutional Court of Korea and hold demonstrations. He said farmers will meet on Wednesday to discuss other steps.

The legislation doesn't clearly specify how dog farmers and others in the industry will be supported after the ban, which will likely result in continued animosities, observers say.

"Dogs are different from cows, chickens and pigs," said Kim Myung-ae, a 58-year-old Seoul resident. "Why would you still eat dogs when they are now seen more as family-like pets than food?"

Another Seoul resident, Jeong Yoon Hee, disagreed, saying whether to eat dog meat is a matter of personal choice and dietary culture. "Dogs are dogs, not humans," he said.

Agencies via Xinhua