FW: Update: Korean Dogs and Cats

[Guest guest]

Dear friends

 

Please spread far and wide. My special thanks to Kim

Singer for her excellent and timely proofreading.

 

Yoon

 

iakakaps [iaka]

26 September 2003 22:42

Friends of Korean Cats and Dogs Worldwide

Update: Korean Dogs and Cats

 

 

IAKA/KAPS E-Mail Update __________

_____________ September 26, 2003

 

 

Contents:

1. One Veterianian’s confession

 

2. Two related stories from sunnan

 

3. Members of the korean government “dine” at dog

meat restaurant (includes information to contact the

Korean government)

 

 

 

A special thank you to Yoon Choi for translating items

1-3.

 

___________________

 

 

 

1. One Veterianian’s confession (translated by Yoon

Choi)

 

 

 

A vet made the following confession on the message

board of the Ministry of Justice home page after it

was revealed that the Minister of Justice and the head

of the Public Prosecutors Office had met at a dog-meat

restaurant.

 

 

 

I hereby confess to having committed shameful acts in

the past and I would like to offer my sincere apology

for the things I have done. One day, a dog that had

been hospitalised at my practice sadly died. The owner

asked if I would take care of the dog’s remains. He

didn’t wish to see the body, preferring instead to

make his request via the telephone. It seemed as

though he found the whole thing too much of a chore.

 

 

 

For myself, I felt at something of a loss. I wasn’t

sure where I might bury the dog and I was also

concerned that the body would decompose rapidly in the

hot temperatures prevailing at the time. Then my

assistant Mr. Yun came up with an idea. He said we

could simply telephone the dog-meat restaurant.

 

 

 

So I did telephone the restaurant, and within about

ten minutes a young man on a bike arrived. He swiftly

weighed the dog and declared it to be three kwan (One

kwan is around 3.75kg). He then counted out and handed

us 15,000 won. He told me that they bought dead dogs

at a rate of 5,000 won per kwan. He added that if a

dog were still alive (even if only barely so), they

would pay as much as 8,000 won per kwan.

 

*Note that a normal medium size yellow dog in a dog

market would average Korean won 250,000 ($210 to

$250).

 

 

 

And so it was that, at that moment, a vile ‘trade’ was

born. Even when a dog was at the last stages of

terminal cancer, or had suffered from a chronic

pneumonia, if the owners abandoned them, I would hand

the animal over to the dog-meat restaurant. Some days,

I sent as many as 7 dogs to the restaurant. They asked

me to supply cats as well. They explained that if they

mixed it all up, no one would realise it was cat-meat.

I was young and not that well off at the time. I

suppose I did these things without thinking too much

about my conscience. But I saw at first hand how

diseased dogs are turned into food. Even if the body

was already partly decomposed, the restaurant was

still prepared to take it. For me, it seemed at the

time to be a convenient way of disposing of all the

dead animals from my practice. Looking back, however,

I now realise I was guilty of promoting a quite evil

trade. I was not the only vet sending rotting bodies

to the dog-meat restaurants, however. I believe many

other vets in the big cities dealt in dead and

diseased dogs in a similar way during the mid 1970s.

Only the culture of secrecy among all those involved

prevented the truth from being revealed to the general

public.

 

 

 

This kind of dog meat is called ‘Zbusi’ in Japanese.

It was Zbusi that went into the stomachs of dog meat

lovers. These diseased dogs had been treated with all

manner of drugs and antibiotics that would obviously

be toxic to anyone who ate them. Ironically, given

that dog-meat lovers ate this type of food

specifically as a “health food”, it would not be in

the least bit surprising if they went on to develop

diseases such as cancer, high blood pressure and

diabetes.

 

 

 

I have since given up my job as a vet and am now

committed to living an honourable life. However, I

still feel very ashamed of my past conduct, and I

would like to take this opportunity to offer my

apologies to the public. On occasion, I would even

recommend euthanasia to a dog-owner simply because

their animal’s condition looked slightly complicated.

I would then sell the body to the restaurant. By my

actions, I was a lesser being than my victims. How can

I ever be forgiven for this kind of conduct? I

genuinely wish I could now ask for all of the dogs’

forgiveness.

 

 

 

Dogs are wonderful creatures. They couldn’t even

contemplate doing the dreadful things that I did.

Their very nature is to always be honest, faithful and

trustworthy companions to people. Contrary to popular

custom, likening a person to a dog should actually be

regarded as a compliment.

 

 

 

After reading my shameful confession, I hope other

vets who have committed the same dreadful acts will

also come forward in the same way. Our collective sins

cannot be forgiven by confession alone, but at least

we may prevent someone else from committing the same

sin as us in future.

 

 

 

We believe this confession will be a powerful tool in

our campaign to end the eating of dog-meat, and it

should also help us promote the cause of animal

protection legislation generally. Indeed, if I were

ever to meet up with the vet who made this confession,

I should like to thank him for his courage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Two related stories from sunnan (translated by Yoon

Choi)

 

 

 

I would now like to tell you two stories about sick

and injured dogs being sold to or killed for dog

markets:

 

 

 

1. I once found a large dog in my neighbourhood that

was suffering from a serious skin infection, literally

from head to toe. I felt so sorry for the dog that I

started to bring him food. He was always pleased to

see me and would wag his tail eagerly whenever I

approached. I soon began to agonise about how I might

help this dog further. There was no place available in

the shelter where the dog could be separated from the

other dogs - although the owner would have been happy

to give the dog over to me if I had offered some

money. Would it be right to rescue him - just to put

him to sleep? One day, I went to see the dog but he

was missing. I asked the owner what had happened to

the dog and he told me that he’d sold it to a dog-meat

trader. I was shocked to hear this and asked him,

incredulously, “They bought a dog that was suffering

from a severe skin disease, literally covered with

pus?” He replied, “Of course. I didn’t get much money,

but it’s good that they took care of the dog.”

 

 

 

2. On another occasion, I discovered a neighbour’s dog

that had been left in an extremely unhygienic

environment. He had no shelter. He was tied in a

corner of their garden and didn’t even have a place to

sit, as the whole area was covered with a mixture of

mud, night soil and rainwater. The dog was pitifully

thin and clearly malnourished. He looked rather like

Hong had done - prior, that is, to being rescued from

Kwang Ju. I told the owner, “Animals feel hunger,

too, and they dislike a dirty environment. Can you not

treat him better?” She replied, “It’s OK. I’m going to

sell him to the dog-dealer soon.” I told her, “It’s

not right for you to send a former companion of the

family to a place where they will meet with a cruel

death. You should not even think of doing such a

terrible thing. If you find it difficult to feed him,

then I will look after him.”

 

 

 

She was having some financial difficulties at the time

and had been receiving some assistance from me, so she

readily agreed to my suggestion. I discovered an empty

shed in her garden and cleaned it out thoroughly. I

put in an old quilt and moved the dog into the shed.

At least he now had some shelter from the rain. Also,

the door could be closed to keep him warmer in the

bitterly cold weather. As the months passed, I brought

him food every morning and evening and I kept his

environment clean. Eventually, the dog started to put

on some weight and his coat actually began to shine.

 

 

 

Because the dog’s fur was yellow in colour, I decided

to call him “Yellow”. Every time I approached the

house, he seemed to know that I was near and he would

look out and give me a cheery “smile”. I would often

wave to him in turn and shout, “Yellow, I’ll bring you

some food later.” Naturally, our bond increased over

time and I’m sure he looked forward to seeing me as

much as I looked forward to seeing him.

 

 

 

One Sunday morning, I brought him his food as usual

and then looked on as he eagerly devoured it. Later

that day, I received a phone call. It was his owner.

She said, “What on earth did you feed him this

morning? He’s been vomiting blood and is now dead”. I

ran straight to the house. He had, indeed, died after

vomiting yellow liquid and blood.

 

 

 

Although I was in a state of shock, I could still work

out what had actually happened. A few days earlier,

the owner had told me that her brother would be taking

the dog. I’d told her that she should never allow this

to happen. I promised her that I would give her money

for the dog and so she should leave the dog where he

was.

 

 

 

When she said her brother would take the dog, I

realised it meant that they would either sell the dog

to a dog-meat trader or they would kill the dog and

eat him themselves. Because she still felt obligated

to me, she could not easily sell the dog without my

permission. But her family and relatives would have

realised that they could get a lot of money for the

dog now that he had gained weight and looked healthy.

They obviously planned to sell him during the summer

months when the demand was greater. People used to

claim that dogs that had died of poisoning could still

be eaten as long as the internal organs were removed,

and that their bodies could therefore be sold to the

dog-meat traders. I could not accuse them of this, of

course, as I had no evidence. It was, however, very

easy to work out the real cause of the dog’s death.

Even as I was still mourning his death, the owner

asked me “Who could possibly have done this?”

 

 

 

I responded by telling her that, as I had developed

affection for him, I would bury the dog myself. She

was quite insistent, however, that she and her brother

would bury him. This proved to me beyond doubt that

they had killed the dog. If someone else had killed

the dog, they would have been only too glad to hand

this responsibility over to me. Instead, they were

adamant that they wanted to perform the burial.

Clearly, they wanted to either sell or to eat a dog

that had died of poisoning.

 

 

 

Some people will opt to sell their dead dogs to the

dog-meat dealers. Others choose to bury them on a

mountainside. When a dog dies away from its home, and

with no obvious cause, it’s quite likely to have died

of poisoning. The dog dealers often dig up the bodies

and sell them on to a dog-meat restaurant.

 

 

 

Some time ago, my own family’s dog died after

swallowing poison. We buried him on the mountainside.

By the next day, his body had disappeared and, to this

day, many other dog lovers continue to suffer the same

experience. That’s why I always recommend to people

that they should have their deceased pets cremated.

 

 

 

 

 

3. Members of the korean government “dine” at dog meat

restaurant (translated by Yoon Choi)

 

 

 

Yet more material for our campaign is the meeting of

the Minister of Justice and the Public Prosecutor

General at a dog-meat restaurant.

 

 

 

Our society plans to send the photo of these two

people together with this confession to the 272

Parliament members. The material will also be sent

abroad. Unsurprisingly, there was no response to a

direct appeal we made to them in August. Naturally, we

didn’t actually expect any replies, but that will not

deter us. We will continue to publicise any material

that will help to banish dog and cat meat and, indeed,

all forms of animal abuse. I have actually been asked

not to send these materials abroad by those who argue

that they constitute a national shame. Well, if our

political leaders had any sense of shame or

embarrassment, then surely they would already have

tried to deal with this issue. Instead, their

boastful, arrogant behaviour is tantamount to a nation

spitting in its own face. Perhaps their own faces are

already covered with so much “spit and dirt” that they

can no longer feel any shame. Look at the faces of the

Minister and his companion. Are these faces of people

who readily feel shame?

 

 

 

To me, their conduct appears to send out the following

message:

 

 

 

“People of Korea. Laws are not so important. It’s

actually permissible to violate laws occasionally if

you find them inconvenient. (Just like we do.) We’ll

try to abide by the laws when we can, but we reserve

the right to ignore them when they’re not convenient.

If the other person likes dog meat, the best course of

action is to eat it with them so as to make them

happy. Leave your conscience at home for once. Swallow

it if sweet and spit it out if bitter. That’s truly

the fast track to success. Our drink still tastes good

even when eating the flesh of the most loyal animals.

So why not try it yourselves? We recommend it.”

 

 

 

This, then, is how our leaders urge us to adopt their

disgusting habit. And the media, of course, will

always cover anything that is controversial. The

message will no doubt also spread abroad. There are

many foreigners in Korea. They know more about the

reality of animal abuse in Korea than most Koreans,

and they invariably communicate the awful reality to

the outside world. They have carried photographs of

the cruelty of the dog-markets to the rest of the

world even before we did. Similarly, the photograph of

the Minister and the Prosecutor General will have gone

out to the whole world by now.

 

 

 

Before I read the confession, I already knew that many

vets carried on a secret trade with the dog-meat

dealers, and many people had guessed what was

happening. You may already be aware that some

experimental laboratories have been known to inject

all manner of dreadful diseases into dogs and yet

still sell them on to the dog-meat dealers afterwards.

 

 

 

Please write, call, fax, or e-mail members of the

Korean government and demand that they start honouring

their own animal protection law and abolish the

consumption of cats and dogs in Korea once and for

all!

 

 

 

President Roh Moo-hyun

 

Blue House

 

1 Sejong-Ro, Jongno-gu

 

Seoul, South Korea 110-050

 

president

 

 

 

Prime Minister Goh Kun

 

 

77-6 Sejongno, Jongno-gu

Tel: 82-2-737-0094

 

Seoul, South Korea 110-050

Fax: 82-2-737-0109

 

m-opm

 

 

 

Prime Minister of Education Yoon Deok-hong

 

77-6 Sejongno, Jungno-gu

Tel: 82-2-720-3314

 

Seoul, South Korea 110-050

Fax: 82-2-733-2322

 

webmaster

 

 

 

Minister of Justice Kang Kum-sil

 

1Jungang-dong, Gwacheon

Tel: 82-2-503-7018

 

Gyeonggi Prov, South Korea 427-760 Fax:

82-2-504-3337

 

 

 

Minister of Culture and Tourism Lee Chang-dong

 

82-1 Sejongno, Jongno-gu

Tel: 82-2-3704-9110

 

Seoul, South Korea 110-730

Fax: 82-2-3704-9119

 

webmaster

 

 

 

Minister of Agriculture Kim Young-jin

 

1Jungang-dong, Gwacheon

Tel: 82-2-2110-4046

 

Gyeonggi Prov, South Korea 427-760 Fax:

82-2-503-7249

 

wmaster

 

 

 

Minister of Health and Welfare Kim Hwa-joong

 

1Jungang-dong, Gwacheon

Tel: 82-2-503-7512

 

Gyeonggi Prov, South Korea 427-760

Fax: 82-2-503-7568

 

webmaster

 

 

 

Minister of Environment Han Myung-sook

1Jungang-dong, Gwacheon

Tel: 82-2-504-9272

 

Gyeonggi Prov, South Korea 427-760

Fax: 82-2-504-9280

 

sojung

 

 

 

Please note that they Korean government has a habit of

disabling their e-mail address after receiving a

number of protest letters. If your message gets

returned to you, please consider faxing or writing

that particular minister. If you are calling from the

United States, you must dial “011” before dialling the

phone/fax numbers above. An $.80 stamp is the

required postage on letters to Korea.

 

 

 

 

 

Sunnan Kum, Korea Animal Protection Society, 17th of

September 2003

 

 

 

______________________

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