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Gwacheon Mayor Gye-Yong Shin

Mayor Ian Baltutis of Burlington: Tell Sister City, Gwacheon, South Korea, That We’re 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.

Gwacheon became Sister city with Burlington in 2011.

In Gwacheon, there are countless dog meat restaurants/shops where the dogs, who are tortured their entire lives, 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, are served. In addition, many abandoned and stolen former pets end up in this industry and are subject to the same cruelty.

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

Shown below are two search results on Naver (the most popular search engine in Korea) – the first one was for so-called “Health Food 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.”

The searches resulted in dozens of 5 Health Food Centers; and 2 restaurants in Gwacheon.

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 Gwacheon to supply these outlets.

There are laws in South Korea against selling dogs and cats for consumption, yet these laws are blatantly ignored.

Video: The Dog Meat Professionals: South Korea

https://koreandogs.org/meat-dogs-in-wire-cages-feed-on-rotten-food-waste-slops/

Please sign petition, call and email the Burlington TODAY!

To make this easy we’ve included text for your call and emails below.

• No matter where you live, please SIGN OUR PETITION
• Email:
  [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected];
• Send letter (Use the below-suggested message or petition):
  Mayor Ian Baltutis
  City of Burlington
  P.O. Box 1358, Burlington, NC 27216
  USA

  Send a copy of your letter to Gwacheon Mayor Gye-Yong Shin:
  Mayor Gye-Yong Shin
  Gwacheon City Hall
  69 Gwanmun-ro, Gwacheon, Gyeonggi-do
  Postal Code 13806
  South Korea

  Address in Korean:
  신계용과천시장님
  과천시청
  13806 경기도 과천시 관문로 69
  South Korea

• Send a message through Facebook page: Burlington
  Mayor Ian Baltutis
  Gwacheon
  

  📝 Suggested message

  Dear Mayor Baltutis and the City Council members,

  Please watch the videos from South Korea’s dog meat industry:
  https://goo.gl/XUSJzC, https://koreandogs.org/dmp/.

  Do you think that Burlington should be a Sister city to any city that allows dogs and cats to be tortured and eaten. Please urge Gwacheon Mayor Gye-Yong Shin to close down all illegal dog farms and slaughterhouses, markets, truckers, and restaurants that serve their products. An online petition calling for your support in ending the horrendous South Korean dog and cat meat cruelty is in progress: https://goo.gl/zfPTi9
  The favor of your reply is requested.
  Thank you,

  [Your Name & City/Country]

• Call the Mayors’Office: (336) 222-5020

  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 sister city, Gwacheon 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 which is why 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 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 pet owners across South Korea, and throughout the world.

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

  With the Winter Olympics coming up in 2018, this is the time to make change; this is the time to stop the illegal, inhumane and unnecessary cruelty. I know that 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!
  .@gccity_twit .@npil2580 .@BurlingtonNC Mayor Baltutis, Plz Urge Sister City Gwacheon,Korea-Stop Torture/Eating Dogs https://goo.gl/zfPTi9



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