Blog

Call for action: Write to the Venerable Jongmuk!

The Venerable Jongmuk Sunim.

The Venerable Jongmuk Sunim(Sunim means monk) is a scholar monk and currently leads the Haeinsa Buddhist Priesthood College in Gyeongsangnam-do province, South Korea. He has been urging the headquarter of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism to initiate “No-killing movement by Buddhists”(불자의 불살생운동) but so far, there has been no response from the headquarter.

Buddhism is the second most popular religion in South Korea behind Christianity(including Catholics) whose followers make up half of their population. Therefore, it is important to reach out to the Buddhist communities and their leaders to urge them to help end the horrific cruelty of the dog and cat meat trade in South Korea.

With the teachings of Buddha standing against killing of all animals, Korean Buddhists should be doing more to bring the end to the terrible violence and brutality perpetrated in their country.

Let’s thank the Venerable Jongmuk Sunim for his effort in initiating “No-killing movement by Buddhists” and urge him to keep up his effort to bring an end to the horrible killing of dogs!

Please send emails and letters to the Venerable Jongmuk!

The Venerable Jongmuk Sunim's business card

Email address: [email protected]

Mailing address:
Jongmuk Sunim
678-895 Gyeongsangnam-do, Hapcheon-gun, Gaya-myeon, Chiin-ri 10, Haeinsa Buddhist Priesthood College, Jeokmukdang, South Korea

Telephone: 011-55-934-3044

Address in Korean:
종묵스님
678-895 경남 합천군 가야면 치인리 10 해인사승가대학 적묵당
대한불교조계종 제 12교구

Sample Letter (below):

Subject: Please stop the dog meat cruelty! 대한민국의 개, 불쌍한 누렁이를 살려주세요!

Dear Venerable Jongmuk Sunim,

Thank you very much for your effort in initiating “No-killing movement by Buddhists”!

I am writing this letter to you with the hopes of raising awareness and inspiring encouragement to end the dog and cat meat consumption in South Korea. I hope that as a follower of Buddha, you can find it in your heart to not only sympathize with the plight of these helpless animals, but that you would also seek to find justice for the meek and put an end to the horrors of this industry.

As you know very well, dogs and cats are still being eaten in South Korea. Much of the brutality these poor animals experience is not only in the way that they are slaughtered, but also in the horrible and intentional abuse they endure preceding their deaths. Many believe that the more a dog suffers, the tastier the meat and the greater the health benefits.

Korea recently passed the Animal Protection Law for companion animals. However, dogs are still being beaten, hung, electrocuted and tortured by farmers and slaughterers. Furthermore, dogs and cats are being beaten and boiled alive for so-called elixirs, which do not have any medicinal value except in the minds of ignorant and gullible customers. Not only are these practices evil and sadistic, they bring much unwanted and shameful attention to South Korea. As the fourteenth largest economy in the world, they are advanced in technology but failing in humanity.

While many are proud and do not want to face the truth about their country of origin, it is imperative that you do not ignore or deny what is going on in Korea. I would like to believe that as a follower of Buddha, it would behoove you to end any type of cruelty, especially since it is inflicted upon some of the most helpless creatures on this earth. “When a man has pity on all living creatures then only is he noble.” ~Buddha

Please take the time to watch the following video: https://youtu.be/_ZVQjgGb4RQ and read the following teaching of Beopjeong Priest: https://koreandogs.org/beopjeong/
Thank you!

존경하는 종묵스님께

안녕하세요.

스님의 “불자의 불살생운동” 노력에 진심으로 감사드립니다.

한국의 개와 고양이 식용악습에 대해 알려드리고 개와 고양이 식용금지를 위해 도움을 청하기위해서 이렇게 간절한 마음으로 이 서신을 보냅니다. 부처님을 따르는자로서 힘없는 동물들이 처한 어려움을 불쌍하게만 여기지 마시고 그들을 옳바르게 대해주고 이 끔찍한 행위에 종지부를 찍는일에 도와주실수는 없을까요?

잘 아시겠지만 한국에서는 아직도 개와 고양이를 잡아먹고있습니다. 이 불쌍한 동물들이 도살되는 방법만 잔인한게 아닙니다. 죽음에 이르기까지 견뎌야하는 끔찍하고 고의적인 학대 역시 매우 잔인합니다. 개가 고통스러워할수록 고기가 훨씬 맛있어지고 건강에 더 유익하다고 믿는 사람들이 아직도 많기때문입니다.

최근 한국에서는 애완동물에 대한 동물보호법이 통과되었습니다. 하지만 여전히 개농장이나 도살장에서는 개들이 두드려 맞고, 목 매달리고, 감전되고, 고문을 당하고 있습니다. 게다가 의학적 가치가 전혀 없음에도 불구하고 일부 무지하고 자기 주관이 없는사람들로 인해 보약이라는 미명하에 개와 고양이가 구타당하고 산 채로 삶아지고 있습니다. 이 관습은 매우 잔인하고 가학적입니다. 게다가 한국이 다른 나라로부터 반갑지 않으며 또 수치스러운 시선의 집중을 받게 됩니다. 전세계에서 14번째 경제강국인 한국은 기술적인 면에서는 앞서나가고 있을지라도 인성적인 면에서는 뒤떨어지고 있습니다.

많은 사람들이 자신의 조국을 자랑스러워 하면서도 이런 불편한 진실에는 외면하고자 하지만, 한국에서 일어나고 있는 일에 대해 눈감거나 부인하지 말아주시길 부탁드립니다. 부처님의 가르침을 따르는 자로서 우리는 어떠한 형태의 잔인함이라도 종식시켜야 하는 게 옳다고 믿습니다. 특히 이 지구상에서 가장 힘없는 생명들에게 가해지는 잔인함이라면 더 그렇습니다. “모든 생명체에 연민의 정을 느낄 때 비로소 인간는 숭고하다.” ~부처님 말씀 https://youtu.be/_ZVQjgGb4RQ

감사합니다.

Please sign petitions against the South Korean Dog Meat Cruelty!

Petition letter mailed to the Venerable Jongmuk on December 6, 2014.

  1. simona
    simonaDecember 7,14

    !!!

  2. Darlene Baneky
    Darlene BanekyDecember 7,14

    We all need to put an end to this abomination towards our dogs and cats. It’s evil and not normal. Dogs and cats are pets and help service many people and families. They are not food.

  3. delilah st louis
    delilah st louisDecember 21,14

    Please stop all this cruelty ! It’s makes me sick !

  4. alla
    allaJune 5,15

    stop it!

  5. jean polous
    jean polousJune 23,16

    how do the these people eat these dogs when they don’t know what kind of disease the dogs might have. completely unhealthy to eat this kind of meat.

Leave a Reply

Twitter
Visit Us
Follow Me
Tweet
Whatsapp
Vimeo
Flickr
Reddit
Tumblr
RSS
Follow by Email