South Korea’s parliament had on Tuesday passed a bill prohibiting breeding, slaughtering and selling dogs for their meat. This has been a traditional practice that activists have long called a shame to the country.
The National Assembly passed the bill by a 208-0 vote. It will come into effect after a three-year grace period and after it receives a final approval from President Yoon Suk Yeol.
Breeding, selling and slaughtering dogs for their meat will be illegal by up to three years in prison or the defaulter would pay 30 million won ($23,000) in fines.
Dog meat has since been a part of South Korean cuisine, and at one point, at least a million dogs were alleged to be killed for the trade every year, but consumption has greatly declined recently, as Koreans are steadily embracing pet ownership in their numbers.
Eating dog meat is akin to a taboo among the younger, urban South Koreans, and pressure from the nation’s animal rights activists has also been mounting on the government to ban the practice.
Former efforts to ban dog meat have run into ferocious opposition from the farmers who rear dogs for consumption. This new law will give compensation so that businesses can finally pack up the trade.
According to government figures, about 1,100 dog farms rear hundreds of thousands of dogs every year. Dog meat is served in restaurants across the country, and is usually eaten as a summertime delicacy, with the greasy red meat believed to boost energy to help handle the summer heat.
The country’s present animal protection law is intended to mainly bar the cruel slaughter of dogs and cats but it does not prohibit the consumption of the dog meat itself.
