South Korea’s Love with Dogs Culminates in Historic Slaughter Ban

Annie Ko, like most young South Koreans, rarely ate dog meat, but her annual visits to a restaurant that served it did not trouble her conscience. And she was only vaguely aware of the international outcry that prompted last week’s vote to prohibit the breeding, slaughter, and sale of dog meat in the country.

When she volunteered as an interpreter for Humane Society International, her perspective on eating dog meat, which some claim dates back centuries, shifted dramatically.

Her volunteer work took her to farms where dogs are raised for slaughter, and their meat is eventually used in stews and other dishes that devotees claim help them avoid fatigue caused by the country’s hot and humid summers.

She later adopted DeeJay, who had been rescued from a dog farm. “I had a year or two to witness what actually goes on at dog farms before I got my dog … it was an important learning experience,” says Ko, a member of the Seoul-based electric rock duo Love X Stereo.

“When you’re at a restaurant, you don’t really see the process, but that changes once you’re at a farm and see how horrible the situation is, how badly the dogs are treated and how they carry all these diseases … stuff that makes you feel that this is wrong in so many ways.”

South Korea’s Shift on Dog Meat Trade – From Declining Consumption to Political Action

Despite the horrors highlighted by campaigners, few politicians appeared willing to take action. Consumption has been declining for decades, and is now largely limited to older South Koreans seeking a fix of culinary nostalgia.

However, the industry is far from insignificant in terms of finances. The agriculture ministry reports that there are approximately 1,150 farms and 1,600 restaurants that serve dog meat dishes. Activists estimate that up to one million dogs are slaughtered each year.

In 2022, activists discovered an unlikely ally in the incoming president, Yoon Suk-yeol, and his wife, Kim Keon Hee. 

Voters expected Yoon, a conservative, to take a tougher stance on North Korea’s nuclear program and attempt to reverse Moon Jae-in’s progressive domestic policies. However, no one identified him as an ally in the campaign that culminated in the recent decision by the national assembly to make the dog meat trade illegal beginning in 2027.

Yoon and Kim, who own several dogs, had made it clear that they were opposed to eating dog meat. According to government data, South Korea has over 6 million pet dogs, and demand for dog meat has reached an all-time low.

A recent Korea Research International opinion poll commissioned by the animal rights group Aware revealed that 93% of people had no intention of eating dog meat, while 82% supported a ban, up from 73% in 2022.

In the national assembly, 208 people voted for the ban, with only two abstentions. “The political narrative changed very quickly,” Ko said. “And I think that has a lot to do with the current government.”

Song Mi-ryung, the agriculture minister, stated that criminalizing the trade reflected South Korea’s transition to a society that values animal welfare. “Now is the time for the government to take action to swiftly resolve the issue of dog meat consumption,” she said.

Many people credit Moon, who was president from 2017 to 22, with boosting the anti-trade campaign. In 2017, he adopted Tori, a rescue dog, and four years later proposed a ban on dog meat consumption.

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