| The Treatment of Dogs and Cats in Korea
Many Koreans still believe that if one eats dog meat from dogs that have been tortured to death, it will make them more sexually active. The marketing of dog meat as a health food was initiated and perpetuated by the dog meat dealers to keep their billion dollar businesses going. The rationale behind savagely beating a dog to death lies in the primitiveness that when a dog is beaten they produce high levels of adrenaline hence the selling of their meat as a kind of "natural" viagra for impotence and vitality! This adrenaline rush is achieved by hanging dogs from ropes on trees and leaving them to slowly strangle to death, and then while still alive, their fur is blowtorched off. Cats do not hold any position of affection in Korean society. They are not eaten as dogs are but many attempts have been made to eradicate them, not by humane methods, but rather by beating the animals to death in sacks or, in some cases, boiling them alive in large pressure cookers to supply the insatiable demand for another "herbal" remedy – although clearly animals do not fall into this category. The Korean government does not enforce its animal welfare laws so people make an assumption that farming dogs, slaughtering them and selling their meat is legal. It is not. The sale and cooking of dogs is illegal under Korea's food and sanitation laws.
IT CAN WORK AGAIN WITH YOUR HELP. Click here to see more pictures. WARNING: The pictures are very distressing! Please write and send e-mails to the following individuals and demand that they stop defining Dogs as "livestock". Also to enforce existing laws that prohibit cruelty to and consumption of dogs. President Kim Dae Jung Chairman Park Joon Kyu Minister Kim Myoung Ja Minister Kim Sung Hoon For more information: See our interview with Kyenan Kum founder of IAKA and KAPS.
Even if you just wanted to contact Kyenan to let her know that there are plenty of people out there that are also deeply concerned. We know she would appreciate it.
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Should
the brutal treatment and death of a dog or cat concern us more than if
the same were done to a cow, or a sheep, or a chicken. It shouldn't, but
animals that the "Western world" looks upon as companion animals
are treated very differently in Korea.