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[Update: September 11, 2017] Correction: Signed Agreement was “Letter of Intent for Friendly Exchange and Cooperation”, not “Friendship City” Agreement.

We received a response from Seoul Gangseo-gu regarding our campaign “Friendship City Campaign – Seoul Gangseo-gu, South Korea – Nottingham, United Kingdom”. We had already closed this campaign but nevertheless, it had made a positive impact by raising awareness about this issue with the City of Nottingham, as well as making Seoul Gangseo-gu aware that we are campaigning against their dog meat industry.
Click HERE to learn more.

[Update: August 3, 2017] Correction: Signed Agreement was “Letter of Intent for Friendly Exchange and Cooperation”, not “Friendship City” Agreement.

Nottingham Post reported on our campaign on August 3, 2017: “Campaigners press Nottingham to act on Korean dog meat trade”. This article had reported that a city of Nottingham official had stated that they are not aware of any arrangement with the Seoul Gangseo District.

We reviewed our sources and became aware that the agreement signed by the Seoul Gangseo District and Nottingham on August 25, 2011 was a “Letter of Intent for Friendly Exchange and Cooperation”, and not the “Memorandum of Understanding” (MOU), commonly known as Friendship City agreement. It seems that although the “Letter of Intent” was signed, it did not lead to the signing of MOU by these two cities. An MOU was however signed by the two universities in these cities – Hoseo Technical College and Nottingham Trent University. Click HERE to learn more.

The Lord Mayor Michael Edwards of Nottingham: Tell Friendship City, Seoul Gangseo-gu, South Korea, That We’re Opposed to the Torture 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 Gangseo-gu became Friendship city with Nottingham in 2011.

In Seoul Gangseo-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 Seoul Gangseo-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 136 Health Food Shops and 53 restaurants in the vicinity of Seoul Gangseo-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 Seoul Gangseo-gu to supply these outlets.

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

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

Call for Action

• Send Email: Removed.
• Send letter (Use the below-suggested message or petition):Lord Mayor’s Office
  Nottingham City Council, Loxley House,
  Station Street Nottingham, NG2 3NG
  United Kingdom

  Send a copy of your letter to Seoul Gangseo-gu Mayor Hyun-Song Noh:
  Mayor Hyun-Song Noh
  Seoul Gangseo-gu Office
  302 Hwagok-ro, Gangseo-gu Seoul
  Postal Code 07658
  South Korea

  Address in Korean:
  노현송 강서구청장님
  강서구청
  (07658) 서울특별시 강서구 화곡로 302
  South Korea

• Send a message through Facebook page:
  Nottingham
  Seoul Gangseo-gu

  Suggested email/letter/Facebook message

  Dear Lord Mayor Edwards and the City Council members,

  We ask you to please watch the videos of South Korea’s dog meat industry: https://youtu.be/_ZVQjgGb4RQ
  https://koreandogs.org/horrible-reality-of-meat-dog-farms-you-did-not-know/
  https://koreandogs.org/dmp/
  https://koreandogs.org/companion-animals-for-consumption/.

  Do you think that Nottingham should be a Friendship city to any city that allows dogs and cats to be tortured and eaten? Please urge Seoul Gangseo-gu Mayor Hyun-Song Noh 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/the-lord-mayor-michael-edwards-of-nottingham-tell-friendship-city-seoul-gangseo-korea-that-we-re-opposed-to-the-consumption-of-dogs
  The favor of your reply is requested.
  Thank you,

  [Your Name & City/Country]

• Call the Lord Mayor’s Office: 0115 9155555

  Suggested phone message

  Hello, I’m calling to speak to someone in the Lord Mayor’s Office to ask for their help on an important issue regarding your Friendship city, Seoul Gangseo-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 Seoul Gangseo-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

  .@lymefeel .@seoul_smc .@MyNottingham .@LordMayorNottm Plz Urge Friendship City, Seoul Gangseo,Stop kill/eating dogs https://goo.gl/Cd6uig

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