Activists Converge to Dog Korea Over Animal Cruelty
Members of In Defense of Animals Protest at Korean Consulate

New York — On the heels of Korea’s Memorial Day, New York City activists will protest the Korean Government’s refusal to enforce laws prohibiting the beating, hanging, burning, electrocution, and boiling alive of dogs and cats for consumption. Holding signs that read: “Korea: Stop Your Torture, Killing and Eating of Dogs and Cats,” members of In Defense of Animals (IDA) and their canine companions will stage a bark-in:

Date: Tuesday, June 8, 2004
Time: 11 a.m.-12 noon
Place: Korean Consulate, 335 E. 45th St. between 1st and 2nd Avenues

Why do activists have their hackles raised over South Korea’s treatment of animals? South Korea has a law prohibiting the consumption of dogs and cats and another that considers dogs to be “domestic pets.” The law is ignored and the government blithely ignores offenders. Before dogs are killed for meat, they are often strung up by their legs and beaten. Dog butchers extol the virtues of their product, embellishing that the adrenaline rush that dogs experience by being bludgeoned to death enhances virility. Cats don’t fare any better—viewed as pest animals, they are boiled alive so their “juices” can be extracted for health tonics purported by butchers to alleviate symptoms of rheumatism.

IDA has received many letters from Korean citizens concerned about the torture, but too afraid to disclose their names, let alone speak out. As one woman described, “Using all his strength he pulled the dog by his left leg. Next he did the same with the right leg. While the dog was still alive, he was tearing his body apart. The dog was moaning with horrible pain. He thought I was someone who enjoyed dog meat. He smiled at me and proudly told me, ‘Dogs should take a long time to be killed, that way it tastes better.’”

“It’s inconceivable that innocent beings whom we consider “man’s best friends” could be so brutally killed, butchered, and eaten,” says IDA president and founder Elliot M. Katz, DVM. For more information on IDA and its Korean Dog Campaign, please visit www.IDAUSA.org.