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Wellington, New Zealand: Tell Sister City, Seoul, South Korea, that you oppose the torture, killing, and consumption of dogs and cats.

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.

Seoul became a Sister City to Wellington, New Zealand, on September 26, 2023.

The Korea Times reported, “Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau, the first Maori leader of New Zealand’s capital, is a bona fide K-drama enthusiast who brought her love for Korean culture to the political forefront during her visit to Seoul. The trip marks a significant step in international relations for Wellington as well as a showcase of how cultural passion can translate into political action. While in Seoul, she signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU), elevating Seoul and Wellington’s relationship to the sister city level, and took part in the World Cities Summit Mayors Forum.”

Below are our previous campaign posts related to this campaign:
Friendship City Campaign – Seoul, South Korea – Wellington, New Zealand
[Campaign update -January 18, 2018] Seoul and Wellington sign a Memorandum for closer ties
[Update – August 16, 2018] “Councillors do not eat dogs – Wellington City Council’s curious memo”

In Seoul, there are numerous 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 broad daylight. In addition, many abandoned and stolen former pets end up in this industry and are subject to the same cruelty.

Video: Dog slaughterhouses killing dogs with an electric iron skewer. Sick dogs neglect, dog carcasses fed to dogs, 53 dog farms discovered. ‘전기 꼬챙이’ 도살, 병든 반려견 방치. 개농장 53곳 무더기 적발. 6/22/21, TV Chosun News.. https://youtu.be/m_n_GPQPbmw

Video: ‘Street of Horror’ Dog slaughterhouses in the heart of Seoul

A Search Engine reveals the sickening scale of Seoul’s dog meat demand.

Two searches on Naver (the most popular search engine in Korea) – 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” – resulted in many hundreds of Health Centers and dog meat restaurants in Seoul.

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 Seoul to supply these outlets.

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

Call for Action

• 📧 Send emails to the mayor and the city council members of Wellington.

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  📧 Send the CC (Carbon Copy) email to the Seoul Metropolitan Council and the South Korean National Assembly members.

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• 📬 Send letters.

  Wellington City Council
  113 The TerraceWellington Central
  Wellington 6011
  New Zealand

  📬 Send a copy of your letter to Seoul Mayor:

  Mayor Oh Se-Hoon
  Seoul Metropolitan Government
  Saejong-daero 110, Jung-gu, Seoul, Postal Code 04524
  South Korea

  Seoul Mayor’s address in Korean:

  오세훈 서울특별시 시장님
  서울시청
  04524 서울특별시 중구 세종대로 110
  South Korea

📝 Suggested message

Wellington, New Zealand: Please tell Sister City, Seoul, South Korea, that you oppose the torture, killing, and consumption of dogs and cats.

Dear Mayor Tory Whanau, Deputy Mayor Laurie Foon, and the Wellington City Council members,

As representatives of Wellington, we ask you to reconsider your Sister City agreement with Seoul, a city that permits dogs and cats to be horribly abused and brutally killed for food.

While graphic, these undercover videos depicting South Korea’s dog meat industry are important to watch:
Shocking Cruelty of South Korea’s Dog Meat Industry, Part 1 of 2: https://youtu.be/_ZVQjgGb4RQ
Part 2 of 2: https://vimeo.com/754160791
Forest fire in Uljin burns dogs imprisoned in dog meat farms: https://youtu.be/mh1lEGt2gjU
https://youtu.be/GLLeI_XFNPg
Dogs who suffered their entire lives are electric tortured and killed in cages—South Korea’s horrific dog meat industry: https://koreandogs.org/jtbc-news-electric-tortured-in-cages/
500 Dogs in typical hellish illegal dog farms in South Korea. https://koreandogs.org/ark119-raids-ganghwa-dog-farm/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcMPdOnJ0Vo (Dog farm scene begins at 11:00 minutes)

Seoul is the largest dog meat consumption city in South Korea. Korean web searches of Seoul turn up hundreds of dog meat restaurants and so-called “Health Centers” that commonly serve soup made of dog meat as phony elixirs (also known as dog soju).

Dogs suffer their entire lives in filthy, feces-encrusted raised wire cages in dire misery only to be slaughtered in the most horrific of ways— tortured by electrocution, hammer strikes to their head, hanging, being beaten to death, having their throats slit, being burned alive with a blowtorch or thrown into a vat of boiling water while still alive. In many places in South Korea, dogs are killed in full view of other caged dogs who tremble with terror. These poor dogs are often burned alive in their cages, unable to escape. They are fed rotten garbage full of chili peppers unfit for any animals to eat, and they are not given water. In addition, beloved pets are often stolen and sold to these slaughterhouses, where they meet the same horrific fate. Puppies who die of disease are tossed away like trash, often left in front of cages to rot while their mothers watch and cry out in despair.

Mayor Christopher Chung of Palisades Park, New Jersey, has already shown his rejection of the dog meat trade in no uncertain terms. As reported in the Korea Times, he recently rejected a visit from exchange students from the friendship city, Incheon Ganghwa County, due to its dog meat trade. In California, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously passed a resolution supporting legislation or administrative action that would request the governments of South Korea, China, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Cambodia ban the sale of dog meat and enforce their animal protection laws.

On behalf of companion animal-loving people worldwide, we ask that you follow these bold leads by not remaining silent in the face of such abhorrent cruelty. Please urge Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon to shut down all Seoul dog farms, slaughterhouses, markets, dog meat restaurants, and truckers transporting dogs to their inevitable fates. An online petition calling for your support in ending such horrors perpetrated in Seoul is in progress: https://chng.it/PKNYkGwScD.

Thank you for your serious consideration. We eagerly await your reply.

Sincerely,

Name, City, Country

• ☎️ Call the Wellington mayor.

  04 499 4444

☎️ 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, Seoul, in South Korea.

If I could explain, Seoul’s massive dog meat industry is brutalizing and inflicting indescribable cruelty against the hundreds of thousands of dogs 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, so I am calling. 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 Seoul authorities – even though there is growing opposition from pet guardians across South Korea and worldwide.

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

This is the time to make a change; this is the time to stop the illegal, inhumane, and unnecessary cruelty. I know 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!
  .@WgtnCC .@seoulmania .@seoulcouncil #Wellington: Tell Sister City #Seoul #SouthKorea, that you oppose the torture, killing, and consumption of #dogs #cats. #dogmeat #catmeat 😢 https://chng.it/PKNYkGwScD 🐾https://koreandogs.org/seoul-wellington/

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

Video: Dogs who suffered their entire lives are electric tortured and killed in cages—South Korea’s horrific dog meat industry. jtbc News.[추적보도 훅] 철창 갇힌 채 감전사…’먹히기 위해’ 죽어가는 개들 / JTBC 뉴스룸