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Pet Dogs, Trade of Death-S. Korea’s Dog Meat Trade [강용석이 간다] 애완견, 죽음의 거래
00:01 Yongseok Kang’s “Frightening Truth”
00:06 Frightening truth about pet dogs hidden in the era of 10 million pet owners. Death of pet dogs taken too lightly. Are you aware of the reality?
00:13 If a dogs are no longer needed by his owner it is commonly called a “waste dog”.
00:18 Dogs that can no longer reproduce should be euthanized.
00:22 Pet dog auction market known for its trade of death taking place. What could be going on in this market?
00:29 Pet dogs. “Trade of Death”.
00:33 Daejeon Metropolitan City. “ㄱ” Pet Dog Auction Market.
00:40 Hidden reality of pet dog auction market.
00:45 Dogs supplied to the auction markets through dog farms get to the end-customers by pet dog dealers.
01:01 “Young puppies hardly able to move” Puppies traded here are newborn puppies that recently weaned from their mom.
01:08 Auction market: Puppies older than 60 days are bigger so if the puppies are cute they will be sold but if they are not that cute then people won’t buy them.
01:18 So the puppies traded in this market are mostly around 35 days old.
01:29 Based on the Animal Protection Act Enforcement Rule, dogs and cats must be at least 2 months old before they can be sold.
01:37 If this rule is violated, First violation – Warning Second violation – 7 days Business Suspension Third violation – 15 days Business Suspension
01:52 However, auction market claims that as long as you have “Companion Animal Data Card”, animals younger than 60 days can be sold.
02:00 Suspicious card that let you evade the law?
02:05 Auction market: The card shows that they are sold from this auction market so there is no problem selling puppies under 60 days old.
02:16 Undercover: So is that OK? Market employee: Yes. Legally there is no problem at all.
02:22 Companion Animal Data Card – Issued by the Korea Companion Animal Auction Market Association, requires to record breed, gender, birth date, vaccination date, etc.
02:28 Can this card indeed evade the law?
02:31 Reporter: I was told that there is no problem selling puppies younger than 60 days as long as the data card is provided.
02:38 Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries: That’s not what it says in the Animal Protection Law.
02:45 Dog farmers should have a management card. However, the puppies still need to be 60 days old before they can be sold.
02:53 Pet dog traders claim to have a fundamental reason why they have to sell puppies younger than 60 days.
03:01 ‘ㄱ’ Pet Dog Auction Market : If they wait until 60 days, the cost of food goes up. And it becomes unprofitable.
03:11 Puppies that do not meet the 60 days legal requirement.
03:17 Because of the greed to reduce the cost of feed, these puppies were being sold with their lives as collateral.
03:26 Haesun Park, Board of Director, Korea Animal Protection & Education Society (KAPES). The reason for the 60 days requirement is because that’s the period the puppies are vulnerable to illnesses.
03:35 This standard is based on the fact that the puppy’s mortality rate declines after this period.
03:46 To conclude, illegal trade of puppies not yet 60 days old is brazenly taking place in pet dog auction markets.
04:03 Yu, a former employee at a pet dog auction market.
04:08 To find out the reality of dog meat auction market, we were able to meet a man who used to work at a pet dog auction market.
04:17 If the pet dogs were auctioned in the morning, large dogs are auctioned in the afternoon.
04:25 Normally large dogs are sold as meat dogs. Among pet dogs, breeds such as Cocker Spaniels are sold as meat for “Dog Soju”(Dog Elixir).
04:45 A pet dog auction market in Gyeonggido-province where we were told that we could verify this reality.
04:55 We’ve decided to pretend as a pet dog dealer and enter inside this auction market.
05:10 Cruel handling at the auction market. Dogs raised for meat are being found everywhere in the market.
05:30 And among these dogs locked up in small cages, we were able to find breeds such as Golden Retrievers and Great Pyrenees.
05:48 Why would the dogs you would see around your neighborhood be here?
05:55 Undercover: What kind of dog is this? Dealer: These are special breeds. They are cheap and have a lot of fat.
06:03 They are cheaper than “Dung Dogs (typical meat dogs)” per pound. They would slaughter them for you for 30,000 KRW ($28 USD).
06:11 For medicine any breeds of dogs are sold.
06:17 We were able to verify the scene of pet dogs being sold as meat.
06:30 Siberian Huskies comes in many varieties. Eye colors are all different. Some have diamond shape in their eyes.
06:40 Undercover: Are the Huskies more expensive? Dealer: They are cheaper because they don’t sell as well. Meat quality is not good.
06:50 You can assume that 90% of these dogs are bad quality meat. German Shepherds are the same. They are all bad.
06:58 These dogs’ meat are mixed with other dogs. They are all meat so it’s no problem.
07:05 If you take them to the Health Food Centers even without processing it, they love it because they are big.
07:13 Where do the dogs being sold as meat through pet auction market come from?
07:20 Regardless of its gender, when they can no longer reproduce, they are regarded as “waste dogs” and sold off.
07:29 For female dogs, they make puppies and when they reach around 7-8 years old they are processed as “waste dog”.
07:41 Reporter: So the dogs determined as “waste dogs” have nowhere to go except to be sold as meat dogs. Former auction market employee: Yes. Of course.
07:51 Dogs born as pet and end their lives as meat. Why the “waste dogs” must be sold as meat?
07:59 These “waste dogs” shouldn’t be created but there is no place to dispose of them.
08:05 Undercover: Because they are large pet dogs?
08:10 Of course. We don’t know what to do with them. There is no place to dispose them.
08:15 So I buy them cheap and slaughter and sell them. Everyone here does that. We must do it to support ourselves.
08:21 People might condemn us but this is our livelihood. In order to making living.
08:27 Dealers selling dogs because there is no way to dispose of them and also to making living. Why can’t this practice change?
08:37 “ㄴ” Pet dog auction market: Dog farms have no place to dispose of these dogs and they keep asking us to allow trade. We can’t change that overnight.
08:43 It’s wrong but they don’t have the conscience that the pet dogs should not be sold as meat dogs.
08:49 In addition, we were told that a significant portion of the dogs these dealers sell includes abandoned pets.
08:57 Former pet dog auction market employee: We can’t tell whether a dog was a pet at someone’s home or raised at dog farms.
09:07
With successful bids at the auction, all dogs are sold to either pet shops or as meat.
09:14 People usually bring abandoned pets to sell.
09:22 According to Livestock Industry Act, dogs are classified as livestock.
09:28 However, according to Livestock Products Sanitary Control Act that specifies the livestock for consumption, dogs are excluded.
09:35 This is the auction scene of lawlessness aside from illegality and legality with no legal deterrence or regulation.
09:42 Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries: In the Animal Protection Act, there is no differentiation of “meat dogs” and “non-meat dogs”.
09:49 We have no authority to regulate this area.
09:54 For a long time, dogs have always lived with us.
10:00 At the same time, there is a record that they were also eaten as meat.
10:07 According to BonChoGangMok(16th century pharmacy book written in China), hunting dogs were called “Jeon(Field) Dog”, house dogs, “Pae(Barking)Dog” and companion dogs ,”Dog”.
10:18 On the other hand, DongGukSeSiGi (19th century seasonal customs book written in Korea) differentiated dogs for meat by calling the dog meat “Gujang”.
10:31 Currently there are 4 auction markets just in Gyeonggido-province that doesn’t differentiate meat dogs and pet dogs.
10:41 About 10 auction markets around the country is distributing dogs who lived their lives as pets as meat dogs.
10:57 A dog captured by our team near the end of auction.
11:05 A Siberian Husky was traded.
11:10 We followed the truck.
11:16 It arrived at a dog farm located in Gyeonggido-province.
11:23 Farm owner showing us around as we asked for a dog to make soup.
11:30 We found the Siberian Husky dog that was purchased at the auction market.
11:38 Farm owner: It only takes about 20 minutes for slaughter.
11:44 Undercover: Can I just pick any dog? Farm owner: Yes. We slaughter for you right here.
11:50 Undercover: So you slaughter the dogs here?
11:55 Farm owner: Yes. Pet dog such as that Siberian Husky, Malamutes, German Shepherds are all cheap.
12:01 Undercover: Are they cheaper? Farm owner: Much cheaper. You could buy them for 5,000 KRW($5 USD) per Geun (=600g).
12:09 Next day. We visited the same farm.
12:16 I am back at the farm that bought a pet dog from the auction market.
12:22 I will go in and check the status of that dog.
12:28 We were able to find the truck that transported that dog from auction market but we could not find that dog.
12:39 These are your dogs, right?
12:43 We’ve decided to ask him about what happened to the dog.
12:48 Farm owner: Are you recording this? Owner walks away avoiding the camera.
12:58 As we ask about what happened at the auction market yesterday, he’s attitude changes abruptly.
13:05 Reporter: You bought a Siberian Husky at the auction market, didn’t you? Farm owner: I have a dementia so I don’t remember.
13:13 Reporter: Why did you buy it? Farm owner: I told you I have a dementia so I don’t remember. I don’t even remember you visiting me.
13:21 Farm owner claiming not to remember is asking us where have we seen him.
13:27 Farm owner: Which auction market did you see me? Reporter: ** Auction Market.
13:33 Farm owner: Where is ** Auction Market? Then you should go ask over there. Why are you bothering me? I don’t know anything.
13:39 Reporter: But you did buy that dog.
13:44 Farm owner: I don’t remember. You guys are crazy. Finally, farm owner came back and started to confront us.
13:53 Farm owner: Am I an easy target? You can’t report someone else so you are reporting me.
13:58 If I get angry nothing’s going to stop me. I will attack. So just leave me alone. I said you don’t need to do this. Shit!
14:11 Are you going to keep bothering me?
14:17 We could not get any explanation about the dog purchased the day before at the pet dog auction market.
14:24 How about other dog farms? With the help from an expert (animal organization), we’ve decided to check the condition of the dogs at another farm.
14:34 Veterinarian Y.S. Ahn. Through blood test, we can find out the white blood cell number anemia.
14:40 Reporter: It’s just like the test we get? Veterinarian: Yes. It’s same.
14:46 We will take these in case we see a dog who is sick and perhaps we can treat him.
14:52 Outskirt of Seoul. “ㄷ” Pet dog farm. Pet dog farm located in a remote area.
15:00 Tens of dogs being raised here.
15:09 Under the small cages where the dogs are raised, excrements were piled up.
15:16 Dogs exposed to the worst sanitary condition.
15:22 Dogs were locked up in cages while neglected in filthy condition.
15:30 Animal organization: How much is it per dog? Farm owner: 7,000KRW ($7 USD) per Geun (=600g).
15:36 Animal organization: How do you sell them? Farm owner: We can slaughter them for you as a service.
15:42 Pet dog farm that offers to sell dogs alive or slaughtered on the spot.
15:47 We proceeded to conduct tests through accompanied Veterinarian and an overall inspection around the farm.
15:59 Among the dogs in the farm, 2 dogs were suffering from conditions so serious that we rescued them by paying for them.
16:09 We will put them in here and take them.
16:15 Dogs trying not to leave the cage.
16:20 How was the outside world like for them that they look at the world with eyes so full of fear?
16:29 You have seen the dog farm with us. So how was the condition of the dogs generally?
16:36 Generally because they are locked up in small wire cages all their lives, there are symptoms of stress in these dogs.
16:44 Do you see any dogs that looks like abandoned pets?
16:50 In the case of this dog, teeth are clean and the condition of eyes are not bad. I suspect that this dog could be an abandoned pet.
16:58 So you are saying that he was a pet that has been abandoned. Yes.
17:04 Then let’s take the poodle and this dog to the hospital and do a complete examination to find out if there are any diseases.
17:11 Yes. We will do a complete examination.
17:19 ‘ㅎ’ Veterinary Hospital. We took the dogs to the hospital that night.
17:29 X-ray shows that right side of this dog’s heart is bulged out. He could be infected with heart worm.
17:42 Heart worm found in one of the dogs. Heart worm is a disease that fills the lung with water and can be fatal.
17:48 Whose fault is it that these dogs had to pass the time in that poor condition? Heart Worm-Through parasites that live in blood vessels of heart and lung, coughing and lung filling up with water causes difficulties in breathing, blood circulation disorder and can be fatal.
18:04 ‘ㄱ’ Animal Shelter. In this society of pet dog blind spot, shelters for abandoned dogs are emerging.
18:10 Director Park has been operating this abandoned animal shelter since 2003.
18:20 By operating pet dog farm, he has witnessed so many dogs being abandoned or euthanized.
18:28 When the dog loses the ability to reproduce, they are called “waste dog” because they get discarded.
18:36 I brought the dogs here by stopping them from heading to auction market or other places that they should not be sent.
18:45 Director Park says this is a work that someone has to do.
18:59 He remembers the horrible conditions of the dogs when they first came to this shelter.
19:06 Also, he doesn’t forget the truth that when people let go of greed, we can give these lives happiness.
19:16 Dogs that are mostly discarded in the dog farms are the ones that have uterine infection.
19:22 Water fills up in the uterus and Myoma is formed making them unable to reproduce. I bring those dogs here before they are sent to auctions.
19:30 So a lot of the dogs here have that condition.
19:37 Don’t look at them just as animals but as lives. I don’t even ask you to consider them as family.
19:43 Whatever the animals , consider them as real lives.
19:49 If so, you can’t neglect those lives.
20:00 Yongseok Kang’s “Frightening Truth”