Dog Days
Trip Start
May 01, 2009
1
5
Trip End
Oct 31, 2011
Mokpo, Cholla-namdo, Korea Rep.
Friday, July 8, 2011
According to a recent newspaper article there are about 600 farms raising dogs for meat in South Korea, where their meat has long been eaten and dog soup, or Boshintang, as a summer delicacy. Around 100,000 tonnes of dog meat is consumed here annually with another 93,600 tonnes supposedly being used for making tonics.
Now I want to get something straight early on in this blog. Although personally I would not touch dog meat with a very long chopstick due to my own beliefs that a dog is a pet and companion, it would be hypocritical for me to condemn the consumption of dog meat in South Korea. I am after all not a vegetarian, I enjoy a steak every now and then, I like chicken, bacon and sausages. It's not my place to decide what animals a country should be allowed to eat (provided they're not endangered of course). My problem is with the way dogs are killed in South Korea.
You see here in Korea, and I've seen it done, dogs are tortured to death because of the false belief that when the dog is scared it creates adrenaline. If adrenaline levels are high in the dog's blood before death, then the meat becomes tastier and makes the eater more masculine. Dog meat is good for sexual stamina. Also, some farmers think that electrocuting will reduce the quality of meat, so dogs are often hanged and burnt (to remove the fur). Dogs are kept in tiny filthy cages, standing in their own feces, without water and fed on slops.
During the 2002 FIFA world cup, dog restaurants were closed down temporarily because of fears of outcry from foreign visitors. Which leads me to think that Korea must realize that the way they are treating dogs is wrong. An interesting fact, and one that I have noticed when speaking to different generations of Koreans about dog meat, is that the practice of eating dogs is not widely accepted in South Korea. Many children I've spoken to would not dream of eating dog meat, but their parents and grandparents see nothing wrong with it. Nowadays there a thousands of dog meat restaurants open for business across South Korea, but if you don't read Korean, don't expect to spot them; they are banned from advertising in English.
Dogs as pets in Korea are becoming more and more common. But mostly the kind of dog you'll see as a pet here will be smaller than your average cat and will live indoors, shaved and dyed and sleeping on a gold pillow. The kind of dogs that are generally eaten here, the larger Jindo's and similar breeds are not viewed in the same way as the 'toy' dogs that are kept in the home. In my opinion Jindo's are beautiful and extremely intelligent, somewhat similar to a German Shepherd and would make amazing pets.
It's seems that things could change in Korea with regards to the way that dogs are treated here. Many people don't realize how dogs are killed here and I really believe that it is just a case of educating people and spreading the word. Here's hoping for change on this one.
