EATING DOG MEAT BANNED IN SOUTH KOREA

History was made in South Korea on Tuesday when a bill was passed that banned the breeding and slaughtering of dogs for consumption.

After years of debating and campaigning, the traditional practice of eating dog meat was banned.

According to the corresponding committee of the National Assembly, the law will ban the distribution and sale of food products made or processed with dog ingredients.

It’s believed the majority of people’s attitude towards eating dogs have changed over the past few decades due to the country’s rapid industrialisation.

CNN reports that under the bill, anybody slaughtering a dog for food can be punished by up to three years in prison or fined up to 30 million Korean won.

This includes anyone who breeds dogs for eating, or who knowingly acquires, transports, stores or sells food made from dogs, also faces a lower fine and time behind bars.

While the bill will now be sent to President Yoon Suk Yeol for final approval, farm owners, restaurants trading in dog meat and other workers in the dog trade will be given a three-year grace period.

First Lady Kim Keon Hee, a dog owner herself, has shown her vocal support for the bill. Hee owns multiple dogs and even visited an animal protection organisation during a presidential state visit to the Netherlands in 2023.

Image credit: The Columbian