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Animal Cruelty In Korea,
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| It is heartbreaking to watch dogs cruelly
mistreated in Korea. Cruelties inflicted upon dogs by Korean dog meat
producers are notorious worldwide. In addition, dogs are also being
abused in puppy mills and in municipal-run shelters for stray animals.
Dogs are not treated as living creatures in Korea. Instead, they are
seen as lucrative sources of income for dog farmers, breeders and
government-assigned shelter directors.
Hence, it is not very shocking to find even Korean Government officers actively participating in cruelty to animals. The following two cases show how the Korean Government regards and treats dogs. The “owner” of these dogs is a typical
dog meat vendor, having run a dog farm in
In May 2005, the dogs were relocated by the government officers. Unfortunately, the conditions at the new location were even more horrific. Locked up in small pens, the dogs were left on asphalt and exposed to rain and snow. The officers did not install shelter from the wind nor roofs, because to them dogs are more like canned products stacked on shelves than living creatures. The dogs had to endure the harsh elements of last winter in this horrible environment, and many of them did not survive.
When animal protection groups visited the site in March 2006, they noticed a number of injured dogs. Due to fights among them, which is not uncommon on dog farms, some dogs had no ears or missing tails, and some were limping. Living on asphalt without drainage, it is little wonder that decayed food and even their own feces was caked on their fur. Infected with scabies and other skin diseases, their skin was rotting with pus all over their bodies. The only food available, if it can be called food, was decomposing food waste. Cannibalism was occurring here and there, and new-born puppies were being eaten by starving dogs. In November 2005, officials from the local government of Incheon demolished a dog farm in Sankok-dong, by an administrative order, and relocated the dogs in order to build a park on the farm site. According to the farm owner, some 100 dogs were killed during the process, in which heavy equipment was used to destroy their original cages. Officers forced the dogs into cages, where they could hardly breathe, with their necks and backs bent over. Some dogs were locked up in wooden boxes with no sunshine or ventilation.
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