Blog

Campaign updated on 5/22/2023.

Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin: Please tell your Sister State, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, that 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.

Korean news reported on 8/23/2022, “Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dong-yeon and Virginia State Senator Chap Petersen agreed to resume policy consultations between Gyeonggi Province and Virginia and cooperate to expand exchanges.”

Gyeonggi Province became a Sister State with Virginia in 1997.

In Gyeonggi province, 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 broad daylight. In addition, many abandoned and stolen former pets end up in this industry and are subject to the same cruelty.

Video: Dogs who suffered their entire lives are electric tortured and killed in cages—South Korea’s horrific dog meat industry. jtbc News.[추적보도 훅] 철창 갇힌 채 감전사…’먹히기 위해’ 죽어가는 개들 / JTBC 뉴스룸

A Search Engine reveals the sickening scale of Gyeonggi Province’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 thousands of Health Centers and dog meat restaurants in Gyeonggi Province.

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 Gyeonggi Province 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 Virginia Governor.

  [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected];

  📧 CC (Carbon Copy) email to the Gyeonggi Provincial Council and the South Korean National Assembly members.

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• 📧 Click HERE to send an online message to the Virginia Governor.
• 📬 Send a letter.

  Governor Glenn Youngkin
  P.O. Box 1475
  Richmond, VA 23218
  USA

  📬 Send a copy of your letter to Gyeonggi Province:
  Governor Kim Dong-yeon
  Gyeonggi Province
  30 Docheong-ro, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon, Gyeonggi-do
  Postal Code 16508
  South Korea

  📬 Gyeonggi Province’s address in Korean:
  김동연 경기도지사님
  경기도청
  (16508) 경기도 수원시 영통구 도청로 30
  South Korea

📝 Suggested message

Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin: Please tell your Sister State, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, that you oppose the torture and consumption of dogs and cats.

Dear Governor Glenn Youngkin:

As Governor and Representative of Virginia, we ask you to reconsider your “Friendship” with Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, a province 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/

Gyeonggi Province is the largest dog meat supplier and consumption province in South Korea. There are countless dog farms and dog slaughterhouses in Gyeonggi Province. Korean web searches turn up hundreds 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 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 Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dong-yeon 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 South Korea is in progress: https://chng.it/tJZfW6wg.

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

Sincerely,

[Your name, city, country]

• ☎️ Call the Virginia’ Governor’s office: 804-786-2211
Suggested phone message

Hello, I’m calling to speak to someone in the Governor’s Office to ask for their help on an important issue regarding your Sister State, Gyeonggi Province, in South Korea.

If I could explain: Dog-meat consumption is currently being practiced in that province, 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 on their behalf. And I believe that your State would wish to be made aware of this issue, as you would not want to affiliate with a province where illegal and immoral torture is being carried out on any animal, 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 Gyeonggi Province authorities – despite growing opposition from pet owners across South Korea and worldwide.

So, I am asking you to please speak with your counterparts in Gyeonggi Province 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 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!
  .@ggholic .@dy_future #Gyeonggi #VirginiaGovernor @GovernorVA: Tell Sister State, #Gyeonggi Province #SouthKorea, that you oppose the torture and consumption of #dogs #cats 🐾 https://youtu.be/_ZVQjgGb4RQ😢https://vimeo.com/754160791 😭 https://chng.it/tJZfW6wg

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