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[Campaign Update: April 20, 2017] Town of Leesburg, Virginia responds.

We have received a response on April 20, 2017, regarding our Sister City Campaign with the Samcheok, South Korea, and Town of Leesburg, Virginia. Official Facebook for the Town of Leesburg responded by stating that they do not have an official Sister City relationship with Samcheok. Click HERE to learn more.

Mayor Kelly Burk of Leesburg: Tell Sister City, Samcheok, 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.

Samcheok became Sister city with Leesburg in 2003.
In Samcheok, there are countless 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 public and in broad daylight. 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 Samcheok’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 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 78 Health Food Shops and 13 restaurants in the vicinity of Samcheok.

Even if half of these ‘Health’ Centers and restaurants serve dog and cat ‘ingredients’ in one form or another, imagine how many dog/cat slaughterhouses must be in the vicinity of Samcheok to supply these outlets.

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

Would you please watch the undercover videos from South Korea’s dog meat industry: https://youtu.be/_ZVQjgGb4RQ

Video: The Dog Meat Professionals: South Korea

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

Call for Action

• No matter where you live, please SIGN OUR PETITION
• Send Email: Leesburg responded so we removed the email addresses.
• Send letter (Use the below-suggested message or petition):Mayor’s Office
  Leesburg Town Hall
  25 West Market Street
  Leesburg, Virginia 20176
  USA

  Send a copy of your letter to Samcheok Mayor Yang-Ho Kim:
  Mayor Yang-Ho Kim
  Samcheok City Hall
  296 Joongang-ro, Samcheok, Gangwon-do
  Postal Code 25914
  South Korea

  Address in Korean:
  김양호 삼척시장님
  삼척시청
  (25914) 강원도 삼척시 중앙로 296
  South Korea

• Send a message through Facebook page: Leesburg
  Mayor Kelly Burk
  Samcheok
  

  Suggested email/letter/Facebook message

  Dear Mayor Burk and the City Council members,

  We ask you to please watch the videos of South Korea’s dog meat industry: https://youtu.be/_ZVQjgGb4RQ, https://koreandogs.org/horrible-reality-of-meat-dog-farms-you-did-not-know/, https://koreandogs.org/dmp/.

  Do you think that Leesburg should be a Sister city to any city that allows dogs and cats to be tortured and eaten? Please urge Samcheok Mayor Yang-Ho Kim to close down all those illegal dog farms and slaughterhouses, markets, truckers, and restaurants that serve these animal 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/hecBWj
  The favor of your reply is requested.
  Thank you,

  [Your Name & City/Country]

• Call the Mayor’s Office: 703-771-2733

  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, Samcheok 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 Samcheok 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!

  Suggested Twitter text

  .@happygangwon .@moonsoonc .@GWopencouncil .@TownofLeesburg Plz Urge SisterCity Samcheok, Korea-Stop torturing dogs! https://goo.gl/hecBWj

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