90 Dogs to Be Electrocuted, Rescued Before Being Made into Food for Restaurants
The 23rd Olympic Winter games opened on Feb. 9 in Pyeongchang County, South Korea. In the days that followed, athletes have dazzled people from all over the world with their incredible abilities.
The country hosting the games this year has a traditional food that has people shocked.
It is reported that “South Koreans believe dog meat soup is a healthy and nourishing food and is advertised as boshintang (health-boosting soup), yeongyangtang (nutrient soup) or sacheoltang (year-round soup).”
Pyeongchang County has been doing their best to fix this. They have outlawed restaurants serving dog meat, but it is difficult to alter an entire culture so quickly.
To date, only two restaurants have complied with this law.
What has perhaps brought this particular issue to light is that there are restaurants near the Olympic Village serving dog soup. The Humane Society International (HSI) recently shut down an eleventh dog meat farm, bringing the total number of dogs saved in South Korea to 1,300.
The dogs reportedly are sent to the United States, Canada, or the United Kingdom for rehoming. The photos of this particular reported farm are heartbreaking.
The process of dog meat farming includes electrocution before they are “harvested.” The dogs are generally housed in unsanitary conditions and are subject to daily abuse.
The Humane Society reports that in modern times in South Korea the consumption of dog meat is not as widespread, and many farmers are open to seeking new careers.
Unfortunately, there are still 2.5 million dogs who will be slaughtered for their meat.
Just miles away from the center of the PyeongChang Winter Games, hundreds of dogs, including St. Bernards and… https://t.co/wMD5z1imxY
— The Machine (@WelcomeMachine1) February 13, 2018
South Korea is not the only country who culturally has dog meat in their general diet. Vietnam is perhaps the most well known for the many ways dog meat is prepared.
Switzerland manufactures dog sausage. In Burkina Faso, dog meat is a cultural delicacy. And in China, dog meat is referred to as the “mutton of the Earth.”
To Westernized culture, these practices are abhorrent and deviant. We have dogs live in our homes, sleep in our beds, and are essentially members of our family.
We have the freedom to make that choice. In developing nations, the choice to eat dog is not just a cultural one but also based on food scarcity.
While this is a difficult issue to consider, it is encouraging to see the intentions of Humane Society International.
Their organization is making strides not only to rescue dogs, but be a part of positive cultural change by encouraging dog meat farmers to pursue other professions as their society modernizes.
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