South Korea’s parliament passed a bill Tuesday to ban the eating and sale of dog meat, outlawing the controversial centuries-old practice amid growing support for animal welfare.
Eating dog meat was once considered a way to increase stamina in the humid Korean summer. Recently, however, it has become rare – now eaten mostly by the elderly – as more Koreans view dogs as family pets and criticism of the way dogs are killed grows.
The issue of promoting the ban has grown under President Yoon Suk-Yeol, an animal lover who has six dogs and eight cats. His first lady Kim Kyung-Hee is also a vocal critic of dog meat consumption.
The bill, proposed by the ruling party, was passed by an overwhelming majority of 208 votes with two abstentions in the unicameral parliament after the bipartisan Agriculture Committee approved it on Monday. The law will take effect after a three-year grace period. Violation of the law will be punishable by up to three years in prison or a fine of 30 million won ($22,800).
In a survey released Monday by the Seoul-based think tank Animal Welfare Awareness, Research and Education, more than 94% of respondents said they had not eaten dog meat in the past year. Some 93 per cent of respondents said they would not do so in the future.
Previous attempts to ban dog meat have failed due to protests from producers, and this bill provides compensation so businesses can opt out of the trade.
In November, a group of about 200 breeders of dogs intended for food held a rally outside the presidential office demanding the bill be cancelled.
According to the South Korean government, there are currently about 1,600 restaurants serving dog meat and about 1,150 dog farms supplying the industry.
