International animal protection organization debates on dog meat at the Busan Gupo Market
This is a translation of Yonhap News article on April 17, 2014: International animal protection organization debates on dog meat at the Busan Gupo Market. 부산 구포시장서 국제동물보호단체 ‘개고기 논쟁’ Click for news in Korean!
International animal protection organization debates on dog meat at the Busan Gupo Market.
International animal protection organization visits Gupo Livestock Market. On April 17th, a representative from Animals Asia is walked around the shops selling dogs for consumption at the Gupo Market in Busan Bukgu. The group also visited the organizing committee of the Busan International Film Festival and the Busan Metropolitan City government and urged the closure of the Gupo Dog Meat Market. Photo: Yonhap News.
“Korea’s traditional food culture” vs ” Dog meat consumption issue is an international issue”
(Busan = Yonhap News) Jeong-Ho Cho reports. “Please respect the differences in food culture.” (Gupo Market dog trader)
International animal protection organization visits Gupo Market. On April 17th of April, a representative from Animals Asia met with the dog meat traders to discuss the dog meat culture and the closure of the dog meat market at the Gupo Market Merchant Association office in Busan Bukgu. 2014.4.17. Photo: Yonhap News.
“The culture of dog meat consumption must change.” (International animal protection organization)
On the 17th, 10:00 a.m., the issue of the culture of dog meat consumption was fiercely debated between the officers of the Livestock Traders Association and the representative from international animal protection organization at the Gupo Market Merchant Association office.
David Neale, an animal welfare director of Animals Asia, stated “There are cultural differences between the East and the West. However, the public awareness about animal protection is changing. As more and more people oppose the culture of dog meat consumption, strong pressure will be imposed on the Gupo Livestock Market.”
Dogs trapped in a cage. Dogs are trapped in cage at the Gupo Market in Busan Bukgu. On April 17th, Animals Asia visited the Gupo Market, the organizing committee of the Busan International Film Festival and the Busan Metropolitan City government urging the closure of Gupo dog meat market. Photo: Yonhap News.
Director Neale explained, “Basically, we oppose the stress of all animals that includes dogs from breeding facilities. The campaign to raise awareness about the plight of these animals and to change public perception is taking place around the world.”
Yong-soon Park, the president of the Gupo Livestock Market Traders’ Association refuted this by saying ”Dogs have been used as an important health food since our ancestors. Forcing your view on our ethnic traditional food culture is an interference in our domestic affairs.”
President Park demanded, “This is a matter of survival for the traders who have been operating livestock shops for over 20-40 years. We ask animal protection organizations to provide us with other alternatives.“
"International Animal Protection organizations must not interfere with our domestic affairs." Gupo Market Livestock Traders posted a banner at the Gupo Market protesting the visit from the international animal protection organization. 2014.4.17. Photo: Yonhap News.
Hun-Young Park, the president of the Gupo Market Merchant Association, vented his frustration by saying “Currently there are no laws prohibiting the slaughter of dogs and the only regulation by the City and the District has been based on sanitation laws. When the congress enacts the law prohibiting dog meat consumption, we will close down the shops.”
In a statement they released today, Gupo Market livestock traders argued that “there are 400,000 people working in our nation’s meat dog breeding farms, dog meat wholesale distribution, dog butcher shops, dog meat restaurants, etc. Our culture of health food might be unfamiliar to others but it is not a matter that a foreign organization should interfere with.”
Director Neale stated “The culture of dog meat consumption will become an international issue and there will be considerable pressure on Korea. The purpose of our visit is to resolve this issue through dialogue and currently we are in discussion about the alternatives.”
Dogs trapped in a cage. Dogs are trapped in a cage at the Gupo Market in Busan Bukgu. On April 17th, Animals Asia visited the Gupo Market, the organizing committee of the Busan International Film Festival and the Busan Metropolitan City government urging the closure of Gupo Dog Meat Market. Photo: Yonhap News.
In the afternoon, Director Neale visited the organizing committee of the Busan International Film Festival and the Busan Metropolitan City government urging the closure of the Gupo Dog Meat Market.
For the past five years, Humane Society International, Animals Asia, In Defense of Animals, and Change for Animals Foundation have been campaigning against Korea’s culture of dog meat consumption and they even formed a group called “Gupo Project” in order to resolve the illegal dog slaughter problem.
Beginning with Director Neale, representatives from the remaining organizations are scheduled to visit the Gupo Dog Meat Market one by one.
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Wonderful, educational and calm approach to this awful trade in dogs & cats suffering. Will spread the word far and wide. Wishing you success and thank you for your efforts.
Korea be arrest and seriously ban eat dogs, cats, illegal murder dogs must be sentence in prison and suffer the same as dogs!!!
Dogs are loyal animals, no matter you are rich or poor, they treat it as owner forever!! Eventhough slaughter house must be humane way slaughter, nobody has a right to kill animals!!! They also have the sense like you!! Be considerable!
18.04.14
I believe it’s of utmost importance that these encounters should be done, and should be regular, as well as providing those people with alternative ways of doing and practicing.
As long as the World evolves, people are going to hate this practice more and more and to outlaw them.
And Koreans, if they have no teaching and supervising and help, will find themselves alone and then the risk of internal conflicts will be greater…
So for the sake of everybody involved, they should start to create other means of living, which for 400.00 people working in this dreadful industry, is not such a big deal…
Good luck for all International Organizations as well as Korean Organizations, who are fighting for Animal Rights and for Animal welfare!
God will be with you and will help you!
Ana Maria C.
Well done Mr.David Neale! Good job! U got all our support! From Montreal, Canada
Once Koreans were amongst nmy best friends. For all major events like OLympic games,EXPO in Taejon and many other major international
events, the highest authoritiespromised an end to that slaughter. On the contrary, you could see living dogs in cages at markets, pieces of boiled or cooked dogmeat,hear thedogs barking and screaming in thousands of farms, see dogs imported from all over Asia. Now I avoid buying Korean, Chinese and any Asian products and items. I HATE KOREA and their lady President ,whois as corrupted as her father and half of Korea, and most Asians .
Korea, you lose face with the whole world and can NEVER be respected as a super power if you continue to do this EVIL to humankind’s BEST FRIENDS. There is NOTHING “healthfu;l” about torture and slow death for your pleasure. Remember, we are watching you and boycotting your products until you stop.
Well said. I agree totally!
Well done David Neale. I along with millions of other worldwide long for the day that it becomes illegal to breed, trade, kill, and butcher dogs for meat.
Asian’s keep throwing the word Culture at us . This is not Culture!!! this is barbaric and it’s time they dragged themselves into the 21st century forget about what their ancestors did in past centuries. If we all thought like that we’d still be living in caves.
The other excuse they give ( it’s medicinal) How? where is their proof? these are the same people who will eat Rhino Horn and boiled Kittens as they are deemed medicinal too. It’s all Hokus Pokus . In fact they more likely to become sick.
Korea likes to be seen as a thriving modern technological country but do not seam to realise that we the rest of the world can not respect any country who allows such horrors . This is something that should have been stopped many many years ago.
The President ,Mrs. Park is a liar, like her father and millions of Koreans!
For all international events taking place for the last half a century, the Presidency promised to the world to stop that practice.
Remember Taejon EXPO in 1993. NEXT to Expo town there was a dog farm, where you could hear the suffering dogs day and night. On Taejon market you could openly buy ready cooked pieces of dog meat or living dogs. I repeat that Mrs Park is a liar like all Koreans.I am ashamed of having fallen in love with Korea’s land, not the people.DEDUCTION: KOREA is NOT a civilized country. I remember our soldier fallen in Korea to help them offering there lives to keep CHINESE out of the country.
Animals have a soul, feelings and they are creatures of Lord; if you hurt them or eat them, you will never escape your own bad karma.
I agree with you that those people should find themselves other jobs. It is NOT OK to eat animals! But if thet are going to eat them anyway, they should, AT LEAST, kill them fast first and not the way they do today.
DOnt they want to try their own medisine and finally understand that this is extremely cruel and unhuman?
They could try propagate their knowledge about massage and reiki, meditation and spirits to earn money. Their famous concentration and yoga is known worldwide, why dont they explote that, instead?
Turism is decreasing over there while turists are streaming to Turkey more and more because of their friendly and protective behaviour towards animals.
Koreans should concentrate on turism instead and get money from there. We would respect them much more if they did so, and we would buy their handkraft and handmade products and so on.
But today it is unthinkable for me to visit that horror land.
Best regaqrds
Yorka Moen.
all you asian countries need to stop this cruel barbaric practice.culture my ass get into the 21st centrey
what you do is evil and shows you are not human you donor have a heart or soul. I will not buy anything made in your countries and. I will
boycot everything from your countries.
Korea must evolve along with other countries who look at animals as if they are on this earth to be treated so cruelly. I pray so hard for this to happen in my lifetime .
I truly wish you all the best with your plight against abolishing the dog meat trade in Korea. Also many blessings for your efforts so far. Although personally I see no difference between the slaughter of dogs and the slaughter if cows, pigs, sheep and chickens. Who are we to choose which animal is appropriate for consumption and which isn’t. Just saying….
You are so right Joanne. All Life should be respected…
To justify torture by the number of people that make money from it is unconscionable; thousands of people make millions of dollars trafficking people, creating child pornography, etc. Dog meat traders are no better than that.
More people in the World need to be made aware of the barbaric torture of dogs in these countries…We do have a legitimate reason to interfere,if Korea and Asia as a whole wish to belong on the international stage and trade with the West,,then it is high time their shameful so called “traditions”(heartlessl) end once and for all!!
It’s not surprising that an Asian country should eat animals America deems as pets and parts of family. They hate America and they will do anything to make it known.
This world is Hell on Earth for most animals. The belief that torturing the animal before you kill it is barbaric. The Animal Kingdom has just as much a right as you and I do to live their lives free from torture and murder. Find something else to eat and leave these innocent creatures alone!!!!
Me too Jana…
If you want to see just how heartless Asian people can be towards animals, go to ‘peta.com’ and watch the video ‘Horror On Chinese Fur Farms’…
PLease cease this abhorrent practice. I am so shocked that friendly affectionate dogs are used in this trade in the friendly country of Sth Korea.
Please rise up against this practice. From one sad Australian!