Write to National Olympic Committees

Sample letter

Dear Members of the Association of National Olympic Committees,

PyeongChang, in South Korea, won the bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics, over Munich and Annecy, on several criteria, one of which was ‘public opinion’. Indeed, The Korean Tourism Organization advertises: ‘the unique experiences within Korea that are beyond imagination’; and wishes foreign visitors to experience: ‘Korea’s many pleasant surprises’.

As you and your colleagues are busy preparing for this sporting event, we ask each of you to spare a few minutes to watch the following videos: https://youtu.be/_ZVQjgGb4RQ https://koreandogs.org/dmp/

Do you agree with the Korean Tourism Organization in the use of the phrases: ‘Pleasantly Surprised’ and ‘Beyond Imagination’?

The truth is that South Korea is the world’s 14th largest economy, yet an estimated 2.5 million dogs and thousands of cats are slaughtered each year and eaten as “health food”. Forced to endure deprivation and unimaginable torment from the moment they are born until the day they are slaughtered; dogs are imprisoned in cramped, rusty, raised cages all their lives with no protection from extreme elements, and have no access to water, exercise, or medical care. Their eardrums are often burst to prevent them from barking. In broad daylight, often in front of other live dogs, they are electrocuted, hanged, beaten or burnt to death.

This is a profit-driven, tax free, unregulated industry that aggressively promotes the myth that eating a dog (especially the dog’s penis) enhances male virility and provides men with energy. South Koreans genuinely believe that the more the dog is made to suffer, the more it will enrich the quality of the meat and increase the health benefits to the consumer. Many dogs are sadistically made to experience extreme fear and suffering prior to death. Cats are frequently boiled alive to make tonics believed to treat rheumatism. The demand is so high in South Korea that 20% of the dog meat is now imported from China.

It is hard to believe that a nation such as South Korea, which is one of the major economic powers and boasts one of the highest education levels in the world, is still continuing to commit this type of barbaric brutality in this day and age. However, for the millions of dogs and cats that are being slaughtered each year in South Korea’s markets, slaughterhouses, restaurants, dog farms and backyards, it is a tragic reality and a nightmare from which they can’t escape. If South Korea wants to be respected as a nation of conscience, South Koreans need to strengthen the animal protection law and permanently ban dog and cat consumption. This has continued for far too long, and it is now time for the South Korean Government to take a moral leadership for its citizens and take a stand against this barbaric practice. Not only would this save the South Korean animals from unimaginable suffering, but it will be in South Korea’s economic interests because people of the world will not stop condemning South Korea’s cruelty.

As Mahatma Gandhi said, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”

It is time for South Korea to start taking animal welfare seriously and to prove that South Korea really does have a compassionate and ethical society. That means it is time for the South Korean Government to start better educating the public about the importance of spaying and neutering, about not abandoning pets, and about treating animals in a proper and humane manner.

The first step must be to finally end the horrendous cruelty of dog and cat meat consumption!

We ask that you urge the Korean authorities and the Korean people to stand by their conviction that, as they claim, Korea is: ‘A country that attracts and ignites the interest of the world’, by ensuring that, in future, it will be in a positive way.

If South Korea does not take the above actions immediately, I will boycott PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics and South Korean businesses and tourism.

The favor of your reply is requested.

Thank you for taking swift action!

[Your name & Country]