Killing Dogs for Meat Ruled Illegal by South Korean Court
A court in South Korea has just ruled that killing dogs for meat is unlawful. The verdict is now being hailed as a landmark for animal rights advocates, who are now optimistic that this could be the first step towards making the dog meat trade illegal nationwide.
It's also part of a trend reversing what was once a long-held accepted part of South Korean cuisine, as The Guardian pointed out. Across the country, it has been estimated that about one million canines are being killed to be eaten every year.
An overall aversion to eating what is considered man's best friend, along with continuing efforts by animal welfare activists, has also led to the younger generation of South Koreans avoiding dog meat altogether and even working towards making it illegal to kill dogs for meat.
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There is still currently no nationwide ban on raising and killing dogs for meat, although authorities have instead turned to cite hygiene regulations, as well as animal protection laws that forbid slaughter practices deemed cruel to sweep off dog farms.
Crackdowns like these are increasingly getting more common especially on the eve of international events like the recent Pyeongchang Olympics, as the Daily Mail noted.
The recent decision, which was handed down in Bucheon, fined the owner of a dog farm three million South Korean won for "killing animals without proper reasons." The fine amounts to about $2,700 U.S. dollars.
This ruling, then, establishes that consumption of meat is not considered a legal reason to kill dogs. "It is very significant in that it is the first court decision that killing dogs for dog meat is illegal itself," Kim Kyung-eun, a lawyer for animal welfare group Care, said about the ruling.
She added that this new precedent could soon be a basis for outlawing the killing of dogs for meat altogether.
