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✳️ This campaign replaces our previous campaign.

Oakland: Tell Friendship City, Pyeongtaek, South Korea, that you are 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.

Pyeongtaek became Friendship City with Oakland on October 6, 2017.

The “Special Bill to end the breeding, slaughter, and distribution of dogs for consumption and dog meat consumption” was passed by South Korea’s National Assembly on January 9, 2024, and it mandates a 3-year grace period for all operations to cease. However, the dog meat trade has always been illegal, and despite this new legislation, there has been no change, and the situation remains dire for the dogs confined in dog farms across the country.

In Pyeongtaek, 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: Watchdog. Massive dog farms in Pyeongtaek. https://www.facebook.com/CAREanimalKorea/videos/1523481031343736/

A Search Engine reveals the sickening scale of Pyeongtaek’s dog meat demand.

Search results on Naver, the most popular search engine in Korea, revealed the prevalence of so-called “Health Centers” that often sell dog elixirs and cat elixirs, also known as dog soju and cat soju. Additionally, numerous listings for “dog meat restaurants” indicated a significant presence of such establishments in the Pyeongtaek area.

Even if only half of these “Health” Centers and dog meat restaurants incorporate dog and cat “ingredients” in some form, the number of dog and cat farms and slaughterhouses required to supply these outlets is staggering.

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 Mayor and the City Councilmembers of Oakland.

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  📧 CC (Carbon Copy) email to the Pyeongtaek City Council, Gyeonggi-do Assembly, and the South Korean National Assembly members.

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• 📬Send letters.

  Mayor Sheng Thao and the Oakland City Council
  City of Oakland
  1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza
  3rd Floor
  Oakland, CA 94612
  USA

  📬 Send a copy of your letter to the Pyeongtaek Mayor.
  Mayor Jung Jang-Seon
  City of Pyeongtaek
  245 Gyeonggi-daero, Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi-do
  Postal Code 17901
  South Korea

  📬 Pyeongtaek Mayor’s addresses in Korean:
  정장선 평택시장님
  평택시청
  (우)17901 경기도 평택시 경기대로 245
  South Korea

• Send a message through Facebook pages.

  Oakland
  Pyeongtaek
  Pyeongtaek Mayor Jung Jang-Seon

  📝 Suggested message

  Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao: Please tell Friendship City, Pyeongtaek, South Korea, that you oppose the torture and consumption of dogs and cats.

  Dear Mayor Thao and Members of the Oakland City Council,

  As representatives of Oakland, we implore you to reconsider your Friendship City agreement with Pyeongtaek, South Korea, a city that permits dogs and cats to be horribly abused and brutally killed for food.

  While graphic, these undercover videos depicting South Korea’s dog meat industry are important to watch:
  Part 1 of 2: https://youtu.be/_ZVQjgGb4RQ
  Part 2 of 2: https://vimeo.com/754160791
  Forest fire in Uljin burns dogs imprisoned in dog meat farms: https://youtu.be/mh1lEGt2gjU
  https://youtu.be/GLLeI_XFNPg
  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/

  Despite the passage of the “Special Bill to end the breeding, slaughter, and distribution of dogs for consumption and dog meat consumption” by South Korea’s National Assembly on January 9, 2024, which mandates a three-year grace period for all operations to cease, the situation remains dire. Dogs confined in dog farms in Pyeongtaek and across South Korea continue to suffer immensely.

  For example, thousands of dogs endure unbearable conditions at a massive dog farm in Pyeongtaek, operated by a former Korean Dog Farmers Trade Association president. These and numerous other dog farms and dog slaughterhouses in Pyeongtaek continue to operate in violation of multiple existing laws. For their entire lives, dogs are confined to cramped wire cages raised off the ground, depriving them of the ability even to turn around. They never experience what it’s like to stand on solid ground.

  With limited resources, animal advocates tirelessly investigate legal violations, file complaints, and pressure governments to enforce laws and shut down illegal dog farms. However, the government has the primary responsibility for enforcement, and its response has been inadequate, demonstrating a shameful indifference to animal suffering.

  Pyeongtaek is one of the largest dog meat suppliers and consumption cities in South Korea. There are numerous dog farms and dog slaughterhouses in Pyeongtaek. Korean web searches turn up dozens of dog meat restaurants and so-called “Health Centers” that commonly serve soup made of dog meat as phony elixirs (also known as dog soju).

  Dogs suffer their entire lives in filthy, feces-encrusted raised wire cages in dire misery only to be slaughtered in the most horrific of ways— tortured by electrocution, hammer strikes to their head, hanging, 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 caged dogs who tremble with terror. These poor dogs are often burned alive in their cages, unable to escape. They are fed rotten, moldy garbage full of chili peppers unfit for any animals to eat, and they are not given water. In addition, beloved pets are often stolen and sold to these slaughterhouses, where they meet the same horrific fate. Puppies who die of disease are tossed away like trash, often left in front of cages to rot while their mothers watch and cry out in despair.

  Mayor Christopher Chung of Palisades Park, New Jersey, has already shown his rejection of the dog meat trade in no uncertain terms. As reported in the Korea Times, he recently rejected a visit from exchange students from the friendship city, Incheon Ganghwa County, due to its dog meat trade. In California, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously passed a resolution supporting legislation or administrative action that would request the governments of South Korea, China, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Cambodia ban the sale of dog meat and enforce their animal protection laws.

  On behalf of animal lovers worldwide, we ask that you follow these bold leads by not remaining silent in the face of such abhorrent cruelty. Please urge Pyeongtaek Mayor Jung Jang-Seon to shut down all dog farms, slaughterhouses, markets, dog meat restaurants, and truckers transporting dogs to their inevitable fates. An online petition calling for your support in ending such horrors perpetrated in Pyeongtaek is in progress: https://chng.it/Zjk2rtnZjm.

  Thank you for your serious consideration. We eagerly await your reply.

  Sincerely,

  [Your name, city, country]

• ☎️ Call the Oakland Mayor’s Office. (510)238-3141

  ☎️ 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, Pyeongtaek, in South Korea.

  If I could explain, dog meat consumption is 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. 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 animal advocates across South Korea and throughout the world.

  So, I am asking you to please speak with your counterparts in Pyeongtaek to urge them to enforce their laws, not ignore them, and to show compassion to their companion animals and respect for their citizens by bringing these trades 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.

• Post on X.

  Suggested X text

  .@love_ptcity .@ggholic .@Oakland .@MayorShengThao, #Oakland Tell Friendship City, #Pyeongtaek #SouthKorea, that you are opposed to the torture and consumption of #dogs #cats #dogmeat #catmeat https://chng.it/Zjk2rtnZjm✊https://koreandogs.org/pyeongtaek-oakland

Video: In the dog meat farm, the Dog Meat Consumption Prohibition Law has no meaning for the tens of thousands remaining and puppies yet to be born. CARE.

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