This alert is no longer active, but here for reference. Animals still need your help.

Boknal days — the three hottest days of the summer are the cruelest for dogs in South Korea. At this time every year thousands of dogs are slaughtered to meet the demand for their meat. Join us in standing with our Korean partners in calling on the government to end the dog meat trade once and for all!  

Although dog meat is consumed throughout the year in South Korea — where an estimated 2.5 million dogs are raised and killed every year for their meat annually — it hits a peak during Boknal days, which are the three hottest days of the year determined by the lunar calendar.

This year, they fall on July 16 and 26, and August 15, and thousands of innocent dogs have been and will continue to be brutally slaughtered for their meat, which is typically consumed in soup known as bosintang. Although most people don’t eat dog meat, there’s a long-held belief, especially among some individuals belonging to older generations, that consuming it will cool their blood and invigorate their health.  

It’s a misguided belief that continues to leave thousands of dogs to be raised, transported and slaughtered in the most heartbreakingly cruel conditions.

Dog meat isn’t legal in South Korea, but it isn’t explicitly banned either. Many provisions of the Animal Protection Act that would protect dogs from cruelty aren’t enforced, and the way dogs are classified under different legislation has left them in limbo.

While major markets, dog meat farms and slaughterhouses have been shut down in recent years, the dog meat trade persists. In 2018, the government announced it was considering a change that would remove dogs from the legal definition of livestock, but no action has been taken. Bills that have been introduced to address the dog meat trade have also been ignored.

However, President Moon Jae-in now has the power to make this change through presidential decree.

As a growing number of communities around the world continue to act to ban the dog meat trade, which most recently include bans within China, India and Cambodia, it’s time for South Korea to do the same!

What You Can Do

This alert is no longer active, but here for reference. Animals still need your help.