South Korea’s Gupo Livestock Market, a major dog meat market home to 19 dog meat vendors, is being shut down by the government and turned into a public park. The vendors at Gupo were selling refrigerated dog meat, and some even had live dogs on display who can be slaughtered-to-order. But now as more people are turning against such practice, these vendors are required to pack up shop as part of the city’s new urban planning scheme.
Nara Kim, a dog meat campaigner for Humane Society International (HSI) said in a statement published by Unilad:
We very much welcome the agreement reached to close Gupo market, home to one of the largest dog meat markets in South Korea. The closure plan is the result of months of hard work between the local authorities and the market vendors, and both sides are to be commended for working towards this goal that will not only bring to an end to Gupo’s dog meat era, but will also see the area regenerated with new amenities and businesses for the benefit of the local, modern economy.
HSI has been working with dog meat farmers in South Korea helping them close their flagging businesses for nearly four years already. As more people in the county turn away from dog meat, dog meat businesses are beginning to shut down one after another. The closure of Gupo’s grimly iconic dog market follows the demolition of the country’s largest dog slaughterhouse complex which occurred last year. Gupo is only the latest crackdown on an increasingly unpopular dog meat trade. Hopefully, there will be more to come, primarily Chilsung market in Daegu next.
As great as this news is, there is a catch. Yes, all 19 dog meat vendors have agreed to clear out of the market by July 11 but only because the Busan Buk-gu district office (Buk-gu is a district of Busan, South Korea), will give each vendor 3.1 million South Korean won (about $2,624 USD) every month through December 2020 “to help them make a new start,” said the Korea Times. In other words, the office is giving $49,856 away each month, with the total for 17 months (August 2019 through December 2020) a whopping $847,552 in taxpayer money. And because their trade is not yet illegal, whose to say they won’t just open up shop elsewhere?
In South Korea alone, 2 million dogs are killed for food every year, according to the Animal Welfare Institute. In South Korea’s open-air markets, it’s common for people to slaughter dogs via electrocution or by breaking their necks, right out in the open, in front of customers. These dogs are often housed in overcrowded factories and transported in overcrowded trucks, where they are subject to starvation, dehydration, broken limbs, diseases, and more.
South Korea is the only country known to farm dogs for human consumption. However, all across Asia an estimated 30 million dogs are killed and eaten each year, mainly stolen pets and street dogs. Most people in the country don’t regularly eat dog meat but it remains popular during July and August when it is eaten as a soup called bosintang. Some believe that the soup improves stamina and virility.
But, the public opinion of dog meat is changing. A survey in 2017 found that 70% of South Koreans do not eat dogs; but only about 40% believe the practice should be banned, according to a June 2018 survey conducted by Gallup Korea. HSI also notes that the industry is in “legal limbo” as a South Korean court ruled last June that killing dogs for meat is illegal, in a landmark decision which animal rights activists said could pave the way to outlawing eating canines. Furthermore, provisions of South Korea’s Animal Protection Act bans killing animals in a “brutal way” and in front of other animals of the same species.
