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[Update – October 10, 2017] Northern Beaches Deputy Mayor Candy Bingham kindly responded to our petition.

We received a response from Deputy Mayor Candy Bingham today. She stated “As you are probably aware we have received a number of emails regarding this issue today. I will refer to the staff so we can all be briefed on the situation.”

We are grateful to Deputy Mayor Bingham for responding to us so quickly and for taking action to address our concerns. We sent a thank you email to her and hope to receive a positive response from her city soon.

Mayor Michael Regan of Northern Beaches, Australia: Tell Sister City, Busan Haeundae-gu, South Korea, That We’re Opposed to the Torture and Consumption of Dogs and Cats.

Busan Haeundae-gu Mayor Seon-Ki Baek

If you want to help fight the grisly South Korean dog and cat meat trade and make a difference in South Korea, here are a few quick actions you can take that could save millions of dogs and cats each year.

Busan Haeundae-gu became Sister city with Northern Beaches in 1994.
In Busan Haeundae-gu, there are countless dog farms, slaughterhouses, markets and restaurants where the dogs, who have been tortured their entire lives, end up being slaughtered in the most inhumane ways, such as by electrocution, hanging or beating; and then thrown into boiling water – sometimes while they are still alive. In many places, dogs are being killed in full view of other terrified, caged dogs; and this takes place in public and in broad daylight. In addition, many abandoned and stolen former pets end up in this industry and are subject to the same cruelty.

A Search Engine reveals the sickening scale of Busan Haeundae-gu’s dog meat demand.

Shown below are two search results on Naver (the most popular search engine in Korea) – the first one was for so-called “Health Centers,” which commonly sell dog elixirs and cat elixirs (also known as dog soju and cat soju), and the second one was for “dog meat restaurants”.

The searches resulted in dozens of 146 Health Food Shops and 39 restaurants in the vicinity of Busan Haeundae-gu.

Even if half of these ‘Health’ Centers and restaurants serve dog and cat ‘ingredients’ in one form or another, imagine how many dog/cat slaughterhouses must be in the vicinity of Busan Haeundae-gu to supply these outlets.

There are laws in South Korea against selling dogs and cats for consumption, yet these laws are blatantly ignored.

http://koreandogs.org/meat-dogs-in-wire-cages-feed-on-rotten-food-waste-slops/

Call for Action

• Send Email: We received a response from the Deputy Mayor. So for now, please sign and share the petition and send postal letters.
• Send letter (Use the below-suggested message or petition):Mayor’s Office
  City of Northern Beaches
  PO Box 82 Manly NSW 1655
  Australia

  Send a copy of your letter to Busan Haeundae-gu Mayor Seon-Ki Baek:
  Mayor Seon-Ki Baek
  Busan Haeundae-gu Government
  11 Joongdong 2-ro, Haeundae-gu, Busan, Gyeongsangnam-do
  Postal Code 48095
  South Korea

  Address in Korean:
  백선기 해운대구청장님
  해운대구청
  (우)48095 부산광역시 해운대구 중동2로 11
  South Korea

• Send a message through Facebook page:
  Northern Beaches
  Busan Haeundae-gu
  Busan Haeundae-gu Mayor

  Suggested email/letter/Facebook message

  Subject: Mayor Michael Regan of Northern Beaches: Tell Sister City, Busan Haeundae-gu, South Korea, That We’re Opposed to the Torture and Consumption of Dogs and Cats.

  Dear Mayor Regan and the City Council members,

  We ask you to please watch the videos of South Korea’s dog meat industry: http://koreandogs.org/horrible-reality-of-meat-dog-farms-you-did-not-know/
  http://koreandogs.org/dmp/
  http://koreandogs.org/companion-animals-for-consumption/.

  Do you think that Northern Beaches should be a Sister city to any city that allows dogs and cats to be tortured and eaten? Please urge Busan Haeundae-gu Mayor Seon-Ki Baek to close down all those illegal dog farms and slaughterhouses, markets, truckers, and restaurants that serve these animal products. An online petition calling for your support in ending the horrendous South Korean dog and cat meat cruelty is in progress: https://www.change.org/p/mayor-michael-regan-of-northern-beaches-australia-tell-sister-city-busan-haeundae-gu-s-korea-that-we-re-opposed-to-the-torturing-of-dogs
  The favor of your reply is requested.
  Thank you,

  [Your Name & City/Country]

• Call the Mayor’s Office: 1300 434 434

  Suggested phone message

  Hello, I’m calling to speak to someone in the Mayor’s Office to ask for their help on an important issue regarding your sister city, Busan Haeundae-gu in South Korea.

  If I could explain: dog-meat consumption is currently being practiced in that city, even though it is illegal under South Korean Law – but the laws are not enforced. The dog and cat meat trades involve extreme and widespread animal cruelty, and the animals suffer unimaginable pain and distress. They cannot speak for themselves which is why I am calling on their behalf. And, I believe that your city would wish to be made aware of this issue, as you would not want to be affiliated with a city where illegal and immoral torture is being carried out on any animal, and particularly not on ones that are loyal, trusting creatures, which look up to us humans as their guardians.

  These illegal trades are being allowed to continue by Korean authorities – even though there is growing opposition from pet owners across South Korea, and throughout the world.

  So, I am asking you to please speak with your counterparts in Busan Haeundae-gu to urge them to enforce their own laws, not ignore them, and to show compassion to their companion animals, and also respect to their own citizens, by bringing these trades to an end.

  With the Winter Olympics coming up in 2018, this is the time to make change; this is the time to stop the illegal, inhumane and unnecessary cruelty. I know that South Korea has many beautiful, admirable, and noble practices and customs worth preserving, but this is not one of them.

  Thank you for your time and understanding.

• Send a Twitter message!

  Suggested Twitter text

  .@haeundaegu .@BusanCityGovt .@beachescouncil Plz Urge Sister City Busan Haeundae-gu, Korea-Stop torturing dogs&cats https://goo.gl/yxtrMg

No matter where you live, PLEASE SHARE these actions with your friends, especially those who live in Northern Beaches!