LA, Chicago, Montréal, Tell Sister City Busan, Korea, you oppose the torture of dogs/cats!

LA, Chicago, Montréal, Tell Sister City Busan, Korea, you oppose the torture of dogs/cats!

Started
January 29, 2015
Petition to
City of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and 2 others
Signatures: 69,342Next Goal: 100,000
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Why this petition matters

Petition: https://chng.it/S6qGZqsT

For more actions you can take, please click below: 

Sister City Campaign – Busan, South Korea – Los Angeles, California https://koreandogs.org/sister-city-busan-la/

Sister City Campaign – Busan, South Korea – Chicago, Illinois https://koreandogs.org/sister-city-busan-chicago/

Sister City Campaign – Busan, South Korea – Montréal, Canada https://koreandogs.org/sister-city-busan-montreal/

Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles, Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot of Chicago, and Mayor Valérie Plante of Montréal(Canada) Tell your Sister City, Busan, South Korea, that you oppose the torture and consumption of dogs and cats.

Video: Forest fire in Uljin burns dogs imprisoned in dog meat farms. https://koreandogs.org/uljin-fire/

Busan became a sister city with Los Angeles in 1967, Chicago in 2007, and Montréal(Canada)in 2000. These relationships were undoubtedly formed in the spirit of friendship and for your mutual benefit, business links, trade, etc. And, while these cities would have expected to learn about the differences in cultural practices of the Busan citizens, we feel confident that these cities would have hesitated to form such a Sister City relationship had your city known about the aberrant and cruel practices routinely carried out in the dog and cat meat trades in Busan and all over South Korea. Lucrative but illegal trades carry on unchallenged: with no enforcement of the laws and no punishment for those violating them.

South Korea is the home to global companies, such as Hyundai, Kia, Samsung, LG, Daewoo, SK, and POSCO, which is why it is so shocking that an estimated 2.5 million dogs are tortured and slaughtered every year within South Korea because of the greed of dog eaters and the dog meat industry; while the majority of those Koreans, who don’t participate in this offensive trade, show a profound indifference by doing nothing at all to stop it.

We know how loyal and faithful our dogs across the world are. We all ask a lot of them - they serve us in innumerable ways: farm work, war work, police and guard duties, search and rescue, help for the disabled, guiding and guardianship, and, of course, as our loving and trusting companions.

Dogs were first domesticated thousands of years ago, and so much do they want to be part of our ‘human’ family that they have learned to understand our gestures and language - the language of another species- showing remarkable willingness and intelligence.

In Busan, there are countless dog farms, slaughterhouses, markets, and restaurants where the dogs, who have been tortured their entire lives, end up being slaughtered in the most inhumane ways, such as by electrocution, hanging, or beating, and then thrown into boiling water – sometimes while they are still alive. In many places, dogs are being killed in full view of other terrified, caged dogs; and this takes place in public and broad daylight. In addition, many abandoned and stolen former pets end up in this industry and are subject to the same cruelty.

Please watch this undercover video by animal rights activists in South Korea: Shocking Cruelty of the South Korean Dog Meat Industry.

Part 1 of 2: https://youtu.be/_ZVQjgGb4RQ

Part 2 of 2: https://youtu.be/ivHffcM5B6w

There are laws in South Korea against selling dogs and cats for human consumption, yet these laws are routinely and blatantly ignored.

Please urge Busan Mayor Park Heong-Joon that Los Angeles, Chicago, and Montréal (Canada) and their citizens demand that Busan issue an official document mandating that the following existing Korean laws be enforced by its government officials, police, and judges:

Unauthorized food waste processing fed to dogs in the meat trade violates the Wastes Control Act, Article 15-2, Article 25, Section 3. Suppliers of food waste and transporters of food waste to dog meat farms are violating this regulation.

Food waste fed to dogs in the dog meat trade violates the Control of Livestock and Fish Feed Act, Article 14, Sections 1 & 2. The unauthorized collection of food waste and feeding it to dogs in the meat trade violates this regulation.

Excrement and resulting environmental damage produced as a by-product of the illegal dog meat farm violate the Management and Use of Livestock Excreta Act Article 11. The excrement produced at dog meat farms causes environmental damage to the immediate and surrounding area.

Slaughtering dogs for human consumption violates the Animal Protection Act Article 8, Section 1, Clause 4. The act of killing a dog without a justifiable ground – such as out of necessity for veterinary treatment or in circumstances of immediate threat, harm, or damage to human life or property- is a violation.

The slaughter of dogs by electrocution violates the Animal Protection Act, Article 8, Section 1, Clause 1. Inflicting injury or death to any animal by the following means: battery by tools, exposure to drugs, exposure to extreme heat or fire, electrocution, and drowning is subject to legal punishment. Therefore, the routine slaughter of dogs by butchers and farmers by these methods violates the Act. Further, electrocution as a method of slaughter is internationally recognized as an inherently cruel method of slaughter and banned globally.

The slaughter of dogs from an unauthorized slaughterhouse violates Livestock Products Sanitary Control Act, Article 7 Section 1. The Livestock Products Sanitary Control Act states that dogs are officially recognized and classified as “animals” that are “prohibited from being slaughtered and distributed as food for human consumption.” Therefore, those vendors operating dog slaughterhouses are operating outside of the parameters of the law.

The slaughter of dogs for consumption violates the Animal Protection Act, Article 10. The Act intends to ensure that no animal is slaughtered in a cruel or revolting manner and shall be free from unnecessary pain, fear, or stress during the slaughter process. Therefore, the only humane way of slaughtering dogs would be by euthanasia (lethal injection). All currently practiced slaughter methods by butchers, farmers, and traders exclude euthanasia as a method of slaughter; therefore, they are all in breach of this Act. This also violates the Livestock Products Sanitary Control Act Article 7 Section 1 Clause 2. According to the Livestock Products Sanitary Control Act, the slaughter of animals for their consumption is allowed only for the livestock publicly announced as a classification of animals in the Livestock Products Sanitary Control Act, and dogs are not classified here.

The display and sale of dog carcasses in traditional outdoor markets violate the Food Sanitation Act, Article 4, 5. Violation of laws banning the sale of harmful food due to contamination from the unsanitary and illegal animal slaughter and display of the dog carcass. For example, dog carcasses are routinely contaminated by microorganisms that cause human diseases and food poisoning, leading to severe and life-threatening health complications. There are also strict laws that ban the sale of meat from sick animals; because there is no quality control or proper monitoring of slaughter practices in the dog meat trade, violation of these laws is likely happening routinely.

Dog meat restaurants’ sale of dog meat soup made with dog carcasses from an unknown source violates the Food Sanitation Act Article 44 Section 1 Clause 1. Uninspected livestock products must not be transported, stored, displayed, sold, or used to manufacture or process food for human consumption.

Please refer to the legal information regarding dog meat consumption in South Korea published by KARA (Korea Animal Rights Advocates): https://www.ekara.org/activity/against/read/7537 https://koreandogs.org/kara-publishes-legal-information-booklet-ending-dog-meat-consumption/

The United States House of Representatives has formally passed H.Res. 401, “Calls for an end to the dog and cat meat industry and urges all nations to outlaw the dog and cat meat trade.” (https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-resolution/401

We believe these demands align with the goal of sister cities to establish friendly communications in tourism, commerce, cultural exchange, and public health.

International and Korean media coverage of the brutal dog and cat meat trade in South Korea has stained Busan, South Korea’s image, and severely tarnished your city’s sister city relationship. The time to end this tragedy is now. The favor of your reply is requested. 

On behalf of all the animals suffering unimaginable cruelty in the dog and cat meat industry, we thank you in advance and await your reply.

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Signatures: 69,342Next Goal: 100,000
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Decision Makers

  • Mayor Karen BassCity of Los Angeles
  • Mayor Lori E. LightfootCity of Chicago
  • Mayor Park Heong-JoonBusan, South Korea