Controversy has returned in South Korea over the slaughter of dogs and eating their meat, amid anti-protests from animal rights advocates that have prompted some farms to close.
According to the news agency “United Press International”, activists from the non-governmental organization “Human Society” freed about two hundred dogs and puppies destined for slaughter in preparation for selling their meat in the Asian country.
And the dogs that were “liberated” from one of the famous farms belong to the two species “Genduz” and “Tusas”.
Activists and critics say that these animals lived their entire lives in filthy places, and were raised in cramped cages and poor conditions on farms near the capital, Seoul.
After the release of these dogs, they are on their way to both Canada and the United States, where they will benefit from the care of adoptive families.
With this step, another dog breeding farm has closed its doors, while eating dog meat is rapidly declining in South Korea after it was a social tradition.
Yang, a 73-year-old dog owner, said he had worked in the field for nearly 30 years, stressing that the time had come to end the project.
Yang acknowledged that “there is no future for dog meat in South Korea,” citing heavy pressure from animal rights advocates.
A poll conducted by the “Nielsen” body in South Korea last October revealed that 87.5 percent of South Koreans refuse to eat dog meat, while previous generations did not find anything wrong with it.
South Koreans are turning away from eating dog meat, while they are more and more interested in raising pets indoors, amid reluctance to marry and have children.
The figures showed that about 6 million homes have an animal subject to breeding, equivalent to 30 percent of the country’s homes, while dogs accounted for 80 percent of those animals.