We have just received wonderful news from our Italian volunteer that, in direct response to our campaign, Mayor Merola of Bologna, Italy, has taken action and written to Seongnam’s Mayor Jae-Myung Lee. Click HERE for our campaign page. Our Sister City Campaign has been urging the City of Bologna to speak out against the horrendous cruelty in Seongnam, which is their new Friendship City, as well as where the largest dog meat market in South Korea is located. Although nothing has so far changed in Seongnam and its Moran Market, this is a major victory as this is only the second time that the Mayor of a Korean Sister/Friendship city has taken action to confront their Korean Sister Cities about this issue. (The first one was Glendale, California).

Below is the news from our Italian team:

“GINY!!!!! MAYOR MEROLA HAS WRITTEN A LETTER TO THE MAYOR OF SEONGNAM!!!!
IN THE POST OF MS. FEDERICA YOU WILL FIND HIS LETTER TO HER IN WHICH HE TELLS THAT HE HAS ASKED TO THE MAYOR OF SEONGNAM TO KNOW HIS POSITION ABOUT THE CRUELTY ON DOGS AND CATS IN HIS CITY, ALSO BECAUSE THERE IS AN ANIMAL PROTECTION LAW IN SOUTH KOREA ! MEROLA IN ADDITION INFORM THE MAYOR OF SEONGNAM THAT THERE IS A PETITION ABOUT THAT, AND HE HOPES THAT THIS INTERNATIONAL PREOCCUPATION DON’T COMPROMIZE THEIR AGREEMENT!! LITTLE VICTORY!!!
Federica Salsi (@FedericaSalsi) ha twittato alle 3:43
(https://twitter.com/FedericaSalsi/status/720608334987046913?s=03)”

Click HERE for the English translation of Ms. Salsi’s post.

Below is the summary of the update by Ms. Federica Salsi:

Ms Salsi was first alerted to the terrible mistreatment of dogs and cats in South Korea via a Twitter feed. As Mayor Merola had just signed the Agreement with the Mayor of Seongnam City, Ms Salsi asked that he contact his counterpart in Seongnam to raise awareness about respect for animals. The initial response from the Mayor’s office was disappointing.

However, by then an on-line petition had already been started4, collecting thousands of signatures in just a few days, and showing Bologna in a very poor light; and Ms Salsi, therefore, decided to re-consult the Mayor to make him aware of the negative effect this would have on Bologna’s image.

Finally Mayor Merola, who was clearly worried by the ever-increasing social network coverage, eventually replied6 by telling Ms Salsi that he had written to the Korean Mayor “to bring to his attention the theme of the mistreatment of dogs and cats for its own jurisdiction”.

To date, no answer has been received, but Ms Salsi will keep us updated.

Call for Action

We are very grateful to Ms Salsi, Council member of the City of Bologna, who has worked tirelessly to help our campaign and to encourage Mayor Merola to take action; and we are also grateful to Mayor Merola for not ignoring this issue and for taking action. Therefore, we need to thank them both for standing up for the voiceless.

Please send a thank you message to Ms Salsi, via her blog post, where she shared the updates about our campaign.

Click HERE to go to her blog page. You can use your own words or use our sample message below, which is written in Italian.

Please send a thank you message to Mayor Merola by email.

You can use your own words or use our sample (Italian) message below.

Email addresses to send the thank you message to Mayor Merola and the City council:

[email protected];[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; assessoreLavoripubbliciPoliticheabitativeSicurezza@comune.bologna.it; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] ; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected];

We will keep our petition open until Seongnam closes down their despicable Moran dog meat market, so please keep signing and sharing our petition!

► Bologna, Italy Mayor: Tell Friendship City Seongnam, That We’re Opposed to Torture of Dogs.

► Petition in Italian: Bologna, Italy Mayor: Tell Friendship City Seongnam, That We’re Opposed to Torture of Dogs.

► Seongnam Moran Market dog slaughterhouses are brutally slaughtering dogs right in front of other live dogs in cages. These illegal dog slaughterhouses must be shut down immediately!.

► Seongnam, South Korea: Close Down Moran Market Dog Slaughterhouses-Enforce The Animal Protection Law!.

What we do matters. What we do make a difference.
So please keep fighting for the dogs! They don’t have a voice but we do so we must speak for them.
Compassion Through Action!
Thank you!