Dog meat traders demand compensation as dog meat is banned in South Korea

Nguyen Dat (according to The Korea Times) - Tuesday, January 16, 2024 21:13 (GMT+7)

On January 9, the South Korean National Assembly officially passed a bill banning the trade and consumption of dog meat, effective from 2027.

After the new regulation was issued, the bustling "dog meat street" in the capital Seoul suddenly became deserted and deserted.

Under the new law, those who raise dogs for slaughter, hunt them, or sell them for meat will be sentenced to up to three years in prison or fined up to 30 million won. Those who eat dog meat, sell dog products, or transport or raise dogs with the intention of slaughter will also face lighter prison sentences and fines.

Faced with the risk of losing their livelihoods and facing huge backlash from the community, meat shop owners are frustrated. They are forced to change their business model or permanently close down the restaurant that distributes the food they have been associated with for hundreds of years. These people believe that the Government 's bill is a kind of "unilateral law".

“I have been making a living from this restaurant for more than 40 years and now I have three years left to close it. I don’t know what to do next,” said the owner of a dog meat restaurant in Seoul, who declined to be named.

In another area, Gwangjang Market, which used to be home to many dog meat restaurants, many have now been hastily converted into chicken soup and grilled fish shops. One shop owner shared: “We borrowed money during the COVID-19 pandemic and did everything necessary to maintain our business. But the bill to ban dog meat that was recently passed by the National Assembly makes us feel like we are at a dead end.”

Not stopping there, according to Yonhap News Agency, the Korean Dog Meat Association stated: “The bill to ban dog meat violates the right to freely choose food for 10 million dog meat eaters, and at the same time deprives the right to freely choose a career for one million dog meat sellers.

At the same time, the three-year grace period is too short, less than the seven-year period previously agreed between animal rights groups and the Dog Meat Association last year.”

Therefore, the Association believes that the Government needs to provide a reasonable level of compensation to compensate for losses and support dog meat traders to quickly find new business methods, especially during the economic recession, before the bill officially takes effect.

As for fair compensation, dog meat advocates say dog meat sellers should be entitled to a subsidy of 2 million won per dog and additional costs they receive from local governments for disposing of food waste, which is used as dog food on farms.

“In addition, restaurant owners must be compensated for at least five years based on any income tax they have paid,” said a representative of the Korea Dog Meat Association.

Source