Korea Urgent: Korean government is going ahead with their plan of legitimizing the dog meat trade through the introduction of a policy on the hygienic control of the dog meat trade

[Guest guest]

> " iakakaps " <iaka

>Wed, 9 Mar 2005 15:17:48 -0800

>

>Re: Urgent: Korean dogs and cats need your help.

>

> Dear Friends of Korean Animals,

>

> We have received very disturbing and sad news

>from Korea. The Korean government is going ahead

>with their plan of legitimizing the dog meat

>trade through the introduction of a policy on

>the hygienic control of the dog meat trade. As

>you can see from the article below, the Ministry

>of Office for Government Policy Coordination has

>decided to implement a set of laws requiring

>hygienic management of the dog meat trade. This

>move will greatly encourage dog-eating practice

>and is effectively legalizing dog meat trade.

>

> We have been working so hard against the

>dangerous definition of pet animals that could

>provide legal grounds for making distinction

>between pet dogs and food dogs. The Korean

>government consistently denied their intention

>of legalizing dog meat. We found it so strange

>that they would not accept our proposed

>definition of companion animals if they had no

>intention of legalizing dog meat. When the

>Ministry of Agriculture finally informed us they

>have dropped the definition, we thought that

>they finally showed some sense and had given up

>using the Animal Protection Law to help with

>legitimizing dog meat trade, the very cause of

>rampant animal abuse in Korea. When we found out

>that the Ministry of Agriculture wanted to

>reintroduce the definition of pet animals in the

>Amendment and that the Ministry of Office for

>Government Policy Coordination had held a

>meeting to discuss the hygienic control of dog

>meat, we realized that something was seriously

>wrong, but hoped that the Korean government

>would not so bluntly put the dog eaters' demands

>before national interests, even though we had

>little faith in their concern for animals.

>

> We find it extremely disturbing that the Korean

>government is trying to associate their attempt

>to legitimize the dog meat trade, with

>protecting animals, by presenting their policy

>as a combination of protecting dogs and

>protecting public health and the environment.

>You cannot protect dogs while developing a

>policy to hygienically control dog meat. The

>latter is based on the assumption that dog meat

>is acceptable, thereby making worse the very

>cause of the senseless killing and torture of

>dogs for health myths. The Korean government has

>long argued that to reduce cruelty to dogs in

>the process of slaughter, they have to legalize

>dog meat. A lame excuse because, if they

>genuinely wanted to reduce the amount of cruelty

>to dogs, all they had to do was to strengthen

>and enforce the existing Animal Protection Law.

>Instead, in the name of hygienic control, the

>government is on the verge of being guilty of

>making the current situation worse than ever.

>They have decided to continue to be guilty of

>letting millions of animals die in misery due to

>their failure to close down the illegal trade.

>If the proposed changes are implemented, they

>will be guilty of further increasing the number

>of animals cruelly killed for fraudulent health

>myth. While claiming that they are not

>legalizing dog meat, this is clearly a way of

>doing so through the back door.

>

> That the government is going ahead with such an

>unpopular policy which, in their own words, is

>without a consensus from the majority of the

>Korean public, shows that they were either

>greatly encouraged by or given strong

>instruction from the Korean President, who has,

>in the past, openly talked about legalizing dog

>meat. The Ministry of Agriculture had assured

>Sunnan that the legalization of dog meat cannot

>happen, at least for a while, because there is

>no consensus for legalizing dog meat among the

>general public in Korea and no government

>department wants to take on such an unpopular

>and troublesome task. We ask all our supporters

>to do all they can to oppose the Korean

>government's attempt to legalize dog meat.

>

>Please write to the Korean Government telling them they should:

>

>. Stop all their attempts to legalise the dog meat trade

>. Include all dogs and cats in the definition of " Companion Animals "

>. Enforce existing and future animal protection laws

>. Protect all dogs & cats in both the markets & countryside

>· Introduce clear penalties for slaughtering &

>selling of dogs & cats for food or medicine

>. Educate the public about the myths of dog & cat meat products

>

>Write to your Member of Parliament or Congress and to the Korean Embassies

>

>· Write to your Member of Parliament or Congress and to the Korean Embassies.

>

>- Ask them to contact the Korean Government and

>pressure them to protect all dogs and cats as

> " pet animals " .

>

>President Roh Moo-Hyun

>Blue House

>1 Sejong-Ro, Jongno-gu

>Seoul

>South Korea, 110-050

>webmaster

>webmaster

>

>

>International Aid for Korean Animals

>Korea Animal Protection Society

>P.O. Box 20600, Oakland, 94620-0600, USA

><http://www.koreananimals.org>www.koreananimals.org

><iakaiaka

>(Tel/Fax.) 510-271-6795

>

>

>

 

 

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