South Korea passes a bill to ban the eating of dog meat, ending a controversial practice as consumer habits change

Seoul, South Korea
CNN
—

South Korea's parliament passed a bill on Tuesday banning the breeding and slaughter of animals Dogs for consumptionEnding the traditional and controversial practice of eating dog meat after years of nationwide controversy.

The bill received rare bipartisan support across South Korea's divided political landscape, highlighting how attitudes toward eating dogs have shifted over the past few decades during the country's rapid industrialization.

The law will prohibit the distribution and sale of food products manufactured or manufactured with dog ingredients, according to the corresponding committee of the National Assembly.

However, customers who consume dog meat or related products will not be subject to the penalty, meaning the law will largely target those working in the industry such as dog breeders or sellers.

Under the bill, anyone who slaughters a dog for food could be punished with up to three years in prison or a fine of up to 30 million Korean won (about $23,000). Anyone who raises dogs for food, or knowingly obtains, transports, stores or sells food made from dogs, also faces a lesser fine and prison sentence.

Farm owners, dog meat restaurants and others involved in the dog trade will have a three-year grace period to close or change their businesses, according to the commission. Local governments will be required to support these business owners to move “stable” to other businesses.

The bill now heads to President Yeon Suk-yeol for final approval. The proposal was proposed by both Yoon's ruling party and the main opposition party, and received vocal support from First Lady Kim Keun-hye, who owns several dogs and visited an animal protection organization during a presidential state visit to the Netherlands in December.

Like parts of Vietnam and southern China, South Korea has a history of consuming dog meat. It was traditionally seen in South Korea as a food that could help people beat the heat during the summer, and was also a cheap and readily available source of protein at a time when poverty rates were much higher.

There are about 1,100 dog farms operating for food purposes in South Korea, and about half a million dogs are raised on these farms, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

But the practice has also come under criticism in recent decades, with animal rights activists at the forefront; International human rights groups such as Humane Society International (HSI) have worked to rescue dogs from South Korean farms and transport them abroad.

The number of South Koreans eating dog meat has also increased It decreased significantly As pet ownership becomes more common. Dog meat consumers now tend to turn away from the elderly, while younger, more urban South Koreans tend to stay away, mirroring similar trends in other parts of Asia.

In a 2022 poll by Gallup Korea64% of participants were against eating dog meat – a significant increase compared to a similar survey in 2015. The number of participants who ate dog meat in the past year also decreased, from 27% in 2015, to just 8% in 2022.

Official statistics showed that between 2005 and 2014, the number of restaurants offering dog service in the capital, Seoul, decreased by 40% due to a decline in demand.

“Our perception of dog meat Consumption and animals in general have changed over the past decades, said Lee Sang-kyung, director of the Dog Meat Ban Campaign at HSI Korea.

“It used to be common when our food supplies were scarce, like during the Korean War, but as the economy evolves and people's outlook toward animals and our food consumption and food choices and things changes, I think it's the right time to move with the times.”

He added that the bill's passage Monday was due in part to increased political will, which “grows with the First Lady's interest.”

But the bill has also faced fierce resistance from dog breeders and business owners who say it will destroy their livelihoods and traditions.

In November, dozens of dog breeders and groomers gathered outside the presidential office in Seoul to protest the bill, with many bringing their dogs in cages they intended to release at the scene, according to Reuters. Clashes broke out between farmers and police at the scene, and some demonstrators were arrested.

“If I have to close my business, with the financial situation I'm in, there's really no answer for what I can do… I've been in this for a long time,” one dog farmer, Lee Kyung-seg, told Reuters last November. “12 years ago and it was very surprising.”

In a press release in November, the Korea Dog Meat Association accused the government of “threatening to crush” the industry, and of proposing the bill “without a single discussion or communication” with dog meat consumers or workers.

“No one has the right to take away 10 million (dog meat consumers) their right to food and the right of 1 million livestock breeders and workers to survive,” she said in the press release.

However, Lee, the HSI director, was optimistic that the bill's grace period and relief measures would help keep dog farmers afloat.

“Based on our experience talking to industry people at HSI, we learned that the majority of dog meat breeders and butchers want to leave the industry but don’t know how to leave the industry,” he said.

“But now with the bill, with the compensation package (and) financial support from the government, I think it's a good time to leave the industry for them as well.”