Blog

Campaign updated on 6/10/2022.

Copenhagen, Denmark: Tell your Friendship City, Seoul, South Korea, that you oppose 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 a Friendship City with Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2014.

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

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

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’ Food Centers and restaurants serve dog and cat ‘ingredients’ in one form or another, imagine how many dog/cat slaughterhouses must be present 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 Copenhagen mayors.

  [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected];

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

  [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]; [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]; [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]; [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]; [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]; [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]; [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]; [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]; [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]; [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]; [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]; [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]; [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]; [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]; [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]; [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]; [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]; [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]; [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]; [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]; [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]; [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]; [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]; [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]; [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]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected];

• 📬 Send letters (Use the below-suggested message or petition):

  Mayor Sophie Hæstorp Andersen
  Rådhuspladsen 1
  1550 Copenhagen V
  Denmark

  📬 Send a copy of your letter to Seoul:
  Mayor Oh Se-Hoon
  Seoul Metropolitan Government
  Saejong-daero 110, Jung-gu, Seoul, Postal Code 04524
  South Korea

  Seoul Metropolitan Council
  Saejong-daero 125, Jung-gu, Seoul, Postal Code 04519
  South Korea

  📬 Seoul’s addresses in Korean:
  오세훈 서울특별시 시장님
  서울시청
  04524 서울특별시 중구 세종대로 110
  South Korea

  서울특별시의회
  (04519) 서울특별시 중구 세종대로 125
  South Korea

📝 Suggested message

Copenhagen: Please tell your Friendship City, Seoul, South Korea, that you oppose the torture and consumption of dogs and cats.

Dear Mayor Sophie Hæstorp Andersen and the mayors of Copenhagen:

We ask you to please watch the videos from South Korea’s dog meat industry:
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
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/
Forest fire in Uljin burns dogs imprisoned in dog meat farms: https://youtu.be/mh1lEGt2gjU
https://youtu.be/GLLeI_XFNPg
Imprisoning dogs in raised wire cages in South Korea’s dog meat farms is extreme cruelty: https://youtu.be/D9Hw4u1XKo4.

Do you think Copenhagen should be a Friendship City to any city that allows dogs and cats to be tortured and eaten by people?

Seoul is the largest dog meat consumption city in South Korea. There are countless dog farms, slaughterhouses, hundreds of dog meat restaurants, and so-called “Health Centers” serving soup made of dog meat as an elixir. Dogs suffer their entire lives in utter misery, in filthy, feces-encrusted raised wire cages, only to be slaughtered in the most horrific ways. They are killed by electrocution, hammer strikes to their head and necks, being hung, 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, dogs are killed in full view of other terrified, 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 not fit for any animals to eat, and they are never given water! Also, people’s beloved pets are often stolen and sold to these businesses, where they meet the same horrific fate. Dogs and puppies who died of diseases are tossed away like garbage, often left in front of cages to rot while the mother dogs watch and cry out in despair for their dead babies.

The Korean internet searches resulted in hundreds of Health Centers which commonly sell dog/cat elixirs (also known as dog soju and cat soju) and dog meat restaurants in Seoul.

Would you please urge Seoul Mayor Oh Se-Hoon to close down all illegal dog farms, slaughterhouses, markets, truckers, and restaurants serving their products? An online petition calling for your support in ending the horrendous dog and cat meat cruelty in Seoul is in progress: https://bit.ly/3xoM9ZM.

On behalf of all the animals suffering unimaginable cruelty in the dog and cat meat industry, we thank you and await your reply.

Sincerely,

Name, City, Country

📝 Suggested message in Danish

København: Fortæl jeres venskabsby, Seoul i Sydkorea, at I er imod mishandling og fortæring af hunde og katte

Kære borgmester Sophie Hæstorp Andersen og fagborgmestre i København:

Vi beder jer venligst om at se disse videoer fra Sydkoreas hundekødsindustri:
Chokerende grusomheder i den sydkoreanske hundekødsindustri, del 1 af 2: https://youtu.be/_ZVQjgGb4RQ
Del 2 af 2: https://vimeo.com/754160791
Hunde, der har lidt hele deres liv, bliver torteret og slået ihjel med strøm i bure – Sydkoreas frygtelige hundekødsindustri: https://koreandogs.org/jtbc-news-electric-tortured-in-cages/
Indespærrede hunde i hundekødsfarm brændt under skovbrand i Uljin: https://youtu.be/mh1lEGt2gjU
https://youtu.be/GLLeI_XFNPg
Tilfangetagelse af hunde i hævede trådbure i Sydkoreas hundekødsfarme er topmålet af ondskab: https://youtu.be/D9Hw4u1XKo4.

Mener I, at København skal være venskabsby med et sted, der tillader at hunde og katte bliver mishandlet og spist af mennesker?

Seoul er den by, hvor der bliver spist mest hundekød i Sydkorea. Der er utallige hundefarme og -slagterier, hundredvis af hundekødsrestauranter og såkaldte “helsecentre”, hvor der serveres hundekødssuppe som værende eliksir. Hundene lider hele deres liv i beskidte og afføringsbesatte hævede trådbure i ren og skær elendighed for til sidst at blive slagtet på de mest grusomme måder. De bliver slået ihjel med strøm, slag med hammer i hoved og nakke, bliver hængt, tævet til døde, får halsen skåret over, bliver brændt levende med blæselamper eller smidt i kar og kogt levende. Mange steder bliver hundene slået ihjel for øjnene af andre skrækslagne, indeburede hunde, som skælver af rædsel. De uskyldige hunde bliver ofte brændt levende i deres bure, uden mulighed for at undslippe flammerne. De bliver fodret med råddent affald fyldt med chilifrugter, der ikke er egnet som nogen form for dyrefoder, og de får aldrig noget vand at drikke. For at gøre ondt værre, bliver folks elskede kæledyr ofte stjålet og solgt til disse virksomheder, hvor de møder samme grusomme skæbne. Voksne hunde og hvalpe, som er døde af sygdom, bliver smidt væk som affald, og bliver ofte efterladt til at rådne væk foran burene, mens deres hundemødre ser på og hyler i fortvivlelse efter deres elskede afdøde hvalpe.

Koreanske internetsøgninger giver hundredvis af resultater på helsecentre som typisk sælger hunde-/katteeliksirer (også kendt som hunde- og kattesoju), og hundekødsrestauranter i Seoul.

Vil I være så rare at opfordre borgmesteren i Seoul, Oh Se-Hoon, til at nedlægge alle ulovlige hundefarme og -slagterier, markeder, salgsvogne og restauranter, der forhandler disse produkter? En underskriftindsamling, der beder om jeres støtte til at sætte en stopper for den frygtelige hunde- og kattekødsindustri i Seoul, er i gang på nettet lige nu: https://bit.ly/3xoM9ZM.

På vegne af alle dyr, der er ofre for den mest utænkelige ondskab i hunde- og kattekødsindustrien, takker vi jer på forhånd, og ser frem til at høre fra jer.

Venlig hilsen,

Name, City, Country

• ☎️ Call the Copenhagen Mayor’s office: +011-45- 33 66 22 01 (calling from the United States)
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, so 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 affiliate 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.

This illegal industry is 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, show compassion to their companion animals, and respect their citizens by bringing this cruel industry to an end.

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!
  .@seoulmania .@seoulcouncil .@Seoul_gov .@koebenhavner Tell Friendship City #Seoul #SouthKorea that you oppose the torture and consumption of #dogs #cats 🐾 https://youtu.be/_ZVQjgGb4RQ 😢 https://vimeo.com/754160791 😭 https://bit.ly/3xoM9ZM🙏https://koreandogs.org/Friendship-City-Seoul-Copenhagen/

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