South Korea on Thursday announced plans to compensate farmers and others in the country’s dwindling dog meat industry before a formal ban goes into effect in 2027, a move that is drawing opposition from both farmers and some animal rights activists.
South Korea’s parliament passed a landmark bill in January that would ban slaughtering, breeding or selling dog meat for human consumption after a three-year grace period. It would be punishable by two to three years in prison.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said that farmers would receive compensation starting from 225,000 won (US$171), and rising up to 600,000 won per dog if they agree to shut down their businesses early.
Photo: AP
An association of farmers rejected the offer, saying in a statement that they cannot relinquish their dogs for such low prices. Farmers earlier called for 2 million won per dog. They’ve said the ban infringes on their right to choose their own jobs and will aggravate their economic difficulties.
The association said that farmers would keep fighting even if they end up being jailed. Earlier in the week, they called for the law to be amended to extend the grace period and add appropriate compensation plans.
Lee Sang-kyung, a campaign manager at the South Korean office of the anti-animal cruelty group Humane Society International, called the South Korean announcement “an important milestone in this historic ban that will see the ban through to completion and end our country’s dog meat era for good.”
However, Lee said his office is disappointed at the South Korean plan, because it would pay farmers based on the number of dogs they have, “potentially increasing dog breeding to get more money from the scheme and more puppies being born into suffering.”
The Korean Animal Welfare Association, a Seoul-based animal rights group, said that local governments must strictly monitor farms to prevent them from increasing their number of dogs through breeding. It praised the government for trying to take reasonable steps to phase out the industry, while criticizing farmers for seeking excessive compensation.
Dog meat consumption is a centuries-old practice on the Korean Peninsula. It is also eaten in China, Vietnam, Indonesia and some African countries. However, South Korea’s dog meat industry has drawn more attention because of the country’s reputation as a cultural and economic powerhouse. It is also the only nation with industrial-scale dog farms.
South Korea’s anti-dog meat campaign received a big boost from the nation’s first lady, Kim Keon-hee, who repeatedly expressed her support for a prohibition. She was subjected to withering criticism and crude insults during demonstrations by farmers.
Surveys have found that about one in three South Koreans opposes the ban, athough most people now do not eat dog meat.
South Korean Vice Minister of Agriculture Park Beom-su told reporters that government studies found that about 466,000 dogs are being raised for food across South Korea.
He said officials would try to convince farmers to voluntarily phase out dog breeding ahead of the ban.
After the ban comes into force, the government plans to facilitate adoptions for the remaining dogs or move them to care facilities rather than euthanize them, Park said.
The ministry said butchers would also be compensated, while local authorities would be responsible for dismantling dog farms and slaughterhouses. Former farmers and butchers would also get low-interests loans if they pivot to other agricultural businesses.
The ministry said authorities would also offer financial assistance to traders and restaurant owners to shut down their businesses and find new jobs.
With much pomp and circumstance, Cairo is today to inaugurate the long-awaited Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), widely presented as the crowning jewel on authorities’ efforts to overhaul the country’s vital tourism industry. With a panoramic view of the Giza pyramids plateau, the museum houses thousands of artifacts spanning more than 5,000 years of Egyptian antiquity at a whopping cost of more than US$1 billion. More than two decades in the making, the ultra-modern museum anticipates 5 million visitors annually, with never-before-seen relics on display. In the run-up to the grand opening, Egyptian media and official statements have hailed the “historic moment,” describing the
‘CHILD PORNOGRAPHY’: The doll on Shein’s Web site measure about 80cm in height, and it was holding a teddy bear in a photo published by a daily newspaper France’s anti-fraud unit on Saturday said it had reported Asian e-commerce giant Shein (希音) for selling what it described as “sex dolls with a childlike appearance.” The French Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) said in a statement that the “description and categorization” of the items on Shein’s Web site “make it difficult to doubt the child pornography nature of the content.” Shortly after the statement, Shein announced that the dolls in question had been withdrawn from its platform and that it had launched an internal inquiry. On its Web site, Le Parisien daily published a
‘NO WORKABLE SOLUTION’: An official said Pakistan engaged in the spirit of peace, but Kabul continued its ‘unabated support to terrorists opposed to Pakistan’ Pakistan yesterday said that negotiations for a lasting truce with Afghanistan had “failed to bring about a workable solution,” warning that it would take steps to protect its people. Pakistan and Afghanistan have been holding negotiations in Istanbul, Turkey, aimed at securing peace after the South Asian neighbors’ deadliest border clashes in years. The violence, which killed more than 70 people and wounded hundreds, erupted following explosions in Kabul on Oct. 9 that the Taliban authorities blamed on Pakistan. “Regrettably, the Afghan side gave no assurances, kept deviating from the core issue and resorted to blame game, deflection and ruses,” Pakistani Minister of
UNCERTAIN TOLLS: Images on social media showed small protests that escalated, with reports of police shooting live rounds as polling stations were targeted Tanzania yesterday was on lockdown with a communications blackout, a day after elections turned into violent chaos with unconfirmed reports of many dead. Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan had sought to solidify her position and silence criticism within her party in the virtually uncontested polls, with the main challengers either jailed or disqualified. In the run-up, rights groups condemned a “wave of terror” in the east African nation, which has seen a string of high-profile abductions that ramped up in the final days. A heavy security presence on Wednesday failed to deter hundreds protesting in economic hub Dar es Salaam and elsewhere, some
RSS