Blog

18th January 2016

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
United States of America

Dear President Obama,

PLEASE, PLEASE HELP TO END THE DOG (AND CAT) CRUELTY AND SADISTIC ABUSE IN SOUTH KOREA

The new brand slogan for Korean tourism is ‘Imagine your Korea’.

Sir, I ask that you spare the time to read my letter to see how I ‘Imagine their Korea’:

In South Korea, many citizens choose to inflict unimaginable cruelty and suffering on dogs, in some cases, for the mistaken belief that the flesh will taste better the more pain and suffering the animals are subjected to during their life, and slow death (fact: dogs are slaughtered by electrocution, a hammer blow to the neck, being hung or beaten, bleeding to death from a slashed throat, being burned to death from a blowtorch, or thrown into a vat of boiling water while still alive).
This is not a case of one or two psychopathic people covertly doing this, but it seems to be widespread and, unbelievably, a cultural issue.

I have seen images (which are easily available for viewing by anyone, anywhere in the world) of:
• Dogs being boiled alive
• Dogs being blowtorched to death
• Dogs slaughtered and butchered in front of living animals
• Dogs hanging by their necks in the back of Hyundai pick-up trucks
• Dogs being transported off the back of vehicles by being tied up in sacks
• Dogs being bound and tied in unimaginably painful ways
• Dogs being bred, reared and housed in filthy, cramped and vile conditions
• Dogs being transported to market squashed and packed together in tiny cages, stacked one, two, three, or more, high.

President Park and her Government takes no positive actions to stop any of this from happening; and there is also a wide-held belief that dog meat has health benefits, which is even being actively endorsed by medical personnel (fact: in the face of scientific evidence, the industry claims dog meat enhances male virility, combats fatigue and illness, and balances the body’s heat during Bok, summer’s three hottest days according to Korea’s lunar calendar. Dr Ann Yong-Geun—prominent food and nutrition professor at ChungCheong University, president of The Korean Society of Food and Nutrition, and advisor to the Korea Dog Farmers’ Association—has promoted these health myths to the point of international notoriety). (Korean athletes in the 1992 Olympics were disqualified when they tested positive for steroids after eating a meal and taking “health tonics” made of dog meat).

These are outrageous beliefs which, in addition to the humane objections, have been scientifically disproven (fact: a study by nutritionists Irwin Putzkoff, Cho Byung-Ho, and Oh Jin-Hwan showed that high levels of adrenaline, steroids, and cortisone-like secretions in dog meat caused fatigue, heart problems, and impotency in rats).
These pitiful cats and dogs are not kept in clean, healthy, stress-free, humane conditions: for the most part, they are filthy, starving, disease-ridden and worm-infested creatures.

A far more likely outcome to any ignorant dog-eaters is extreme ill health.

There are Laws already in place, in their country, against the selling of dogs and cats for consumption and against animal abuse and cruelty BUT they are being blatantly ignored.

As an example:

• Livestock Product Sanitary Control Act, Article 2, Item 1: technically makes the dog meat industry illegal
• Food Sanitation Act, Article 7, Clause 1: does not include dogs in the list of raw materials that can be processed and cooked as food, therefore making raising and slaughtering dogs for consumption illegal
• Animal Protection Act, Article 3 – basic principles for protection of animals: the practices I refer to earlier in this letter violate all these principles
• Animal Protection Act, Article 8 – prohibition of animal abuse: the practices I refer to earlier in this letter ignore all these prohibited acts
• Animal Protection Act, Article 9 – animal transportation: the methods of transportation I refer to earlier in this letter violate this act
• Animal Protection Act, Article 46 – Punishment: no-one being punished for these crimes; no-one is stopping them (the perpetrators don’t even seem to be bothered by foreign and internal media/personnel filming them).

This is a matter of extreme animal cruelty: in the inhumane way in which these animals are raised, the abhorrent way in which they are transported, and the violent and sadistic way in which they are killed before being eaten (fact: many dog slaughterers intentionally prolong the pain and suffering of the dog during its killing – their agonizing death can take from 30 seconds to 20 minutes. Traders use these cruel methods because they believe the adrenaline released by the dog’s endocrine system during torture enhances the health benefits and taste of the meat. Even though most of these slaughtering techniques are in fact illegal (as noted above) dog traders continue to use them out of the public view).

This is not just a question of ‘why shouldn’t humans eats dogs?’; and up until now, I am sure many people in the rest of the world still thought that this was a case of ‘poor people in a poor country, eating to survive’. But we now know that this is no longer the case. South Korea’s recent economic development has not brought an end to the desperate and marginal practice of consuming dogs, but instead turned it into a thriving new market, based on lies and greed.
• South Korea ranks 14th in the world GDP scale – poverty cannot be the excuse.
• South Korea wishes to be seen as a civilised country – while this ‘evil’ continues, they cannot be seen as such.
• South Korea won the bid for the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics; one of the criteria being: public opinion – ‘public opinion’ cannot sanction these barbaric and sadistic practices.

All dogs are living, sentient creatures: they can feel pain, they can feel fear; they can understand kindness, and they can understand cruelty.

Fortunately, there are many of their citizens who do not indulge in this practice (fact: in a 2009 survey of Korean nationals, (only) 55% were against the use of dogs as food for humans (Journal of Social Issues)). But their passive opposition to these practices will not bring an end to this suffering until those in charge do something to break down the many barriers that prevent the eradication of the dog meat trade completely: South Koreans’ backward beliefs, misconceptions about dogs, misplaced nationalism, and profitability.

Worldwide condemnation is being voiced, and, if this abhorrence is not stopped, and quickly, around 1,000,000 (yes: one million) more dogs will be brutally slaughtered at the upcoming Sambok/Boknal (so called) Festival, and many millions more during the forthcoming years, and beyond (fact: 2.5 million dogs and thousands of cats are slaughtered and eaten each year).

Sir, as Guardian ‘Dad’ to Bo and Sunny, and as the President of a country that, in recent history, invested heavily in South Korea, both in monetary and personnel terms, and one that has, just a few weeks ago, reaffirmed its commitment to the solid security of ROK, I implore you to ask President Park and her Government to put an end to this unacceptable, unnecessary and intolerable cruelty by strengthening their Animal Cruelty Act and other relevant acts, and by actively and assiduously enforcing their laws.

Until then, I, and many others around the world, will boycott the PyeongChang 2018 Olympics, sponsors of the event, and all South Korean companies and products from that country.
I thank you in advance for the courtesy of your reply.

Yours sincerely,

Camilla

Please spare the time to watch these: WARNING THESE VIDEOS CONTAIN GRAPHIC IMAGES
https://youtu.be/9SKVdNrfIZo
https://youtu.be/_ZVQjgGb4RQ