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South Australia Premier Steven Marshall: Tell your Sister State, Chungcheongnam Province, South Korea, that you are opposed to the torture and consumption of dogs and cats.

Chungcheongnam Province, South Korea, became a sister state with South Australia, Australia, in 1999.  

This relationship was no doubt formed in the spirit of Sister and for your mutual benefit, for business links and trade, etc. And, while South Australia would have expected to learn about the differences in cultural practices of the Chungcheongnam province citizens, we feel sure that your state would have hesitated to form such a Sister State relationship had your state known about the aberrant and cruel practices routinely carried out in the dog and cat meat trades in Chungcheongnam province and allover South Korea. Lucrative but illegal trades which 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 many 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, which shows remarkable willingness and intelligence.

In Chungcheongnam Province, there are countless shops and restaurants where the dogs, tortured their entire lives and slaughtered in the most inhumane ways – such as by electrocution; hanging or beating, and being thrown into boiling water often while still alive – are served as food and “health tonic.” In many cases, these dogs are killed in full view of other terrified, caged dogs. In addition, many abandoned and stolen former pets end up in this industry and are subject to the same cruelty.

Would you please watch this documentary “The Dog Meat Professionals: South Korea”: https://koreandogs.org/dmp/

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

We believe that there must surely be some social responsibility for the representatives of one state to take a stand against any wrongdoing being sanctioned or ignored by their Sister state. As such, we ask you to please urge Chungcheongnam Provincial Governor Yang Seung-Jo to take action and to state that South Australia and its citizens demand that Chungcheongnam Province issue an official document mandating that the following existing Korean laws be enforced by its government officials, police, and judges:

The unauthorized processing of food waste fed to dogs in the meat trade violates 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, Section 1 & 2. The unauthorized collection of food waste and the act of 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 Act on the Management and Use of Livestock Excreta Article 11. The excrement produced at dog meat farms causes environmental damage to the immediate and surrounding area.

The act of slaughtering dogs for human consumption violates Animal Protection Act Article 8, Section 1, Clause 4. The act of slaughtering of 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 unauthorized slaughterhouses 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.

Slaughter of dogs for their own 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 process of slaughter. 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 is also a violation of 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 own consumption is allowed only for the livestock animals that are publicly announced as classification of livestock in the Livestock Products Sanitary Control Act and dogs are not classified here.

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 the contamination from the unsanitary and illegal slaughter of the animal 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; due to the fact that there is no quality control or formal monitoring of slaughter practices in the dog meat trade, it is very likely that violation of these laws is happening routinely.

Dog meat restaurants’ sale of dog meat soup made with dog carcass from an unknown source is a violation of the Food Sanitation Act Article 44 Section 1 Clause 1. Uninspected livestock products must not be transported, stored, displayed, sold, or used for manufacturing or processing food for human consumption.

Please refer to the legal information regarding the dog meat consumption in South Korea published by KARA (Korea Animal Rights Advocates): http://koreandogs.org/kara-publishes-legal-information-booklet-ending-dog-meat-consumption/

We believe these demands are in line with the spirit and goals of Sister cities to establish friendly communications in the areas of tourism, commerce, cultural exchange, and public health.

International coverage of the brutal dog and cat meat trade in South Korea has stained Chungcheongnam Province, South Korea’s image. Don’t let it also tarnish your state’s Sister State relationship. The time to end this tragedy is now. The favor of your reply is requested.