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[Update 4/8/2023] Bellingham Mayor’s office kindly responded to our campaign.

On 4/3/2023, Bellingham Mayor’s office stated, “Thank you for your email to Mayor Seth Fleetwood of Bellingham. Your concern for the welfare of animals in Cheongju has been noted.” We are grateful to the Bellingham Mayor’s office for the response and hope that Bellingham contacting Cheongju will help end Cheongju’s gruesome and unethical dog meat industry.

Campaign updated on 3/30/2023.

Bellingham Mayor Seth Fleetwood: Tell your Sister City, Cheongju, South Korea, you oppose 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.

Cheongju became a Sister City to Bellingham, Washington, in 2008.

In Cheongju, 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. 👉 Click HERE for a long list of illegal dog farms and slaughterhouses in Cheongju.

Video/photos: An illegal dog farm and dog slaughterhouse is operating, inflicting unimaginable suffering to the helpless dogs imprisoned in raised wire cages in frigid temperatures, forced to eat molded garbage while the Cheongju government turns a blind eye, 3/3/2022. CARE/Watchdog. 👉 Click HERE to donate to CARE/Watchdog.

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

Two searches on Naver (the most popular search engine in Korea) – 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” – resulted in dozens of Health Centers and dog meat restaurants in the vicinity of Cheongju.

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 Cheongju to supply these outlets.

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 Bellingham mayor and the Bellingham City Council members.

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  📧 Send the CC (Carbon Copy) email to the Cheongju City Council, Chungcheongbuk-Do Provincial Council, and the South Korean National Assembly members:

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• 📧 Click HERE to send an email to the Bellingham Sister Cities Association.
• 📬 Send letters.

  Mayor Seth Fleetwood
  City Hall
  210 Lottie Street
  Bellingham, WA 98225
  USA

  Bellingham City Council
  210 Lottie Street
  Bellingham WA 98225
  USA

  📬 Send a copy of your letter to Cheongju:
  Mayor Lee Beom-seog
  City of Cheongju (Temporary Office)
  38 Sangdang-ro 69-beongil, Sangdang-gu, Cheongju, Chungcheongbuk-do
  Postal Code 28527
  South Korea

  Cheongju City Council
  39 Sangdang-ro 69-beongil, Sangdang-gu, Cheongju, Chungcheongbuk-do
  Postal Code 28527
  South Korea

  📬 Cheongju’s addresses in Korean:
  이범석 청주시장님
  청주시청
  [28527] 충청북도 청주시 상당구 상당로69번길 38
  South Korea

  청주시의회
  [28527] 충청북도 청주시 상당구 상당로69번길 39
  South Korea

📝 Suggested message

Bellingham Mayor Seth Fleetwood: Please tell your Sister City, Cheongju, South Korea, you oppose the torture and consumption of dogs and cats.

Dear Mayor Seth Fleetwood, Bellingham City Council members, and the Bellingham Sister Cities Association:

As mayor and representatives of Bellingham, we ask you to reconsider your “friendship” with Cheongju, 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
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/

Cheongju is one of the largest dog meat suppliers and consumption cities in South Korea. There are numerous dog farms and dog slaughterhouses in Cheongju. Korean web searches of Cheongju 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 in Cheongju, dogs are killed in full view of other caged dogs who tremble with terror. 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 companion animal-loving Americans and people worldwide, we ask that you follow these bold leads by not remaining silent in the face of such abhorrent cruelty. Please urge Cheongju Mayor Lee Beom-seog to shut down all Cheongju 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 Cheongju is in progress: https://chng.it/hsZQyDny.

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

Sincerely,

[Your name, city, country]

• ☎️ Call the Bellingham Mayor’s office: (360) 778-8100
☎️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, Cheongju 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 affiliate 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.

This illegal industry is being allowed to continue by Cheongju authorities – even though there is growing opposition from pet guardians across South Korea and worldwide.

So, I am asking you to please speak with your counterparts in Cheongju to urge them to enforce their laws, not ignore them, show compassion to their companion animals, and respect their citizens by bringing this cruel industry to an end.

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!
  .@cjcitynet .@councilcj .@chungbuk21 .@chungbuk_assem .@kyh21 .@cbminjoo .@CityofBhamWA #Bellingham Tell #SisterCity #Cheongju #SouthKorea you oppose torture/eating #dogs #cats🐾https://youtu.be/_ZVQjgGb4RQ😢https://vimeo.com/754160791😭https://chng.it/hsZQyDny😿 https://koreandogs.org/sister-city-Cheongju-Bellingham/

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

Click HERE to see the previous campaign.