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[Update: January 18, 2018] Seoul and Wellington sign a Memorandum for closer ties.

On January 17, 2018, Wellington Mayor Justin Lester tweeted, “Today Wellington signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Seoul, South Korea. We hope this will lead to a sister city partnership and benefit Wellington business, such as the tech industry.” Click HERE to learn more.

Mayor Justin Lester of Wellington: Tell Friendship City, Seoul, 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 became Friendship city with Wellington in 2016.
In Seoul, 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’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 1,003 Health Food Shops and 413 restaurants in the vicinity of 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.

https://koreandogs.org/street-horror-dog-slaughterhouses-heart-seoul/

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

Call for Action

• Send Email:
  [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected];[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected];[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected];
• Send letter (Use the below-suggested message or petition):Mayor’s Office
  City of Wellington
  PO Box 2199, Wellington
  New Zealand

  Send a copy of your letter to Seoul Mayor Won-Soon Park:
  Mayor Won-Soon Park
  Seoul City Hall
  110 Saejongdae-ro, Joong-gu, Seoul
  Postal Code 04524
  South Korea

  Address in Korean:
  박원순 서울시장님
  서울특별시청
  04524 서울특별시 중구 세종대로 110
  South Korea

• Send a message through Facebook page:
  Wellington
  Mayor Justin Lester
  Seoul
  Seoul Mayor Won-Soon Park

  Suggested email/letter/Facebook message

  Subject: Friendship City – Seoul, South Korea

  Dear Mayor Lester and the City Council members,

  We ask you to please watch the videos of South Korea’s dog meat industry: https://koreandogs.org/street-horror-dog-slaughterhouses-heart-seoul/
  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 Wellington should be a Friendship city to any city that allows dogs and cats to be tortured and eaten? Please urge Seoul Mayor Won-Soon Park 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-justin-lester-of-wellington-new-zealand-tell-friendship-city-seoul-korea-that-we-re-opposed-to-the-torture-eating-of-dogs-cats-059b0312-c114-4d0a-a62a-f9bfe0b1846c
  The favor of your reply is requested.
  Thank you,

  [Your Name & City/Country]

• Call the Mayor’s Office: 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 Friendship city, Seoul 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 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

  .@seoulmania .@WgtnCC .@justin_lester Plz Urge Friendship City Seoul, Korea-Stop torturing/eating dogs https://goo.gl/GHzUtz

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