Budapest District V: Tell Sister City, Seoul Gangnam, that you oppose the torture of dogs!

Budapest District V: Tell Sister City, Seoul Gangnam, that you oppose the torture of dogs!

Started
March 4, 2022
Petition to
Budapest District V (kerülete Belváros-Lipótváros) Mayor Péter Szentgyörgyvölgyi and 20 others
Signatures: 6,829Next Goal: 7,500
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Why this petition matters

Budapest District V (kerülete Belváros-Lipótváros) Mayor Péter Szentgyörgyvölgyi: Tell Sister City, Seoul Gangnam District, South Korea, that you are opposed to the torture and consumption of dogs and cats.

[Hungarian] Budapest V. kerületének polgármestere, Szentgyörgyvölgyi Péter: Hozzák testvérvárosuk, Szöul Kangnam-ku kerületének tudomására, hogy ellenzik a kutyák és macskák kínzását és elfogyasztását.

For more actions, you can take, please visit: https://koreandogs.org/sister-city-seoul-gangnam-budapest-district-v/

Photo: Media Triage: The Dog Meat Professionals: South Korea.

Budapest District V, Hungary, became Sister City with Seoul Gangnam District, South Korea, on November 23, 2021. This relationship was undoubtedly formed in the spirit of friendship and for your mutual benefit, business links, trade, etc. And, while Budapest District V would have expected to learn about the differences in cultural practices of the Seoul Gangnam District citizens, we feel confident that your district would have hesitated to form such a Sister City relationship had your district known about the aberrant and cruel practices routinely carried out in the dog and cat meat industries in Seoul Gangnam District and all over 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.

Seoul Gangnam District is one of the largest dog meat consumption areas in South Korea. There are numerous restaurants and so-called “Health Centers” where the dogs, who are tortured their entire lives, and slaughtered in the most inhumane ways, such as by electrocution, hanging, stabbing or beating; and then thrown into boiling water – sometimes while they are still alive are served as food and drinks. In many places in South Korea, 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: :

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 consumption, yet these laws are blatantly ignored.

We believe that there must surely be some social responsibility for the representatives of one city to take a stand against any wrongdoing being sanctioned or ignored by their Sister City. As such, we ask you to please urge Gangnam District Mayor Jeong Sun-Gyun to take action and to state that Budapest District V and its citizens demand that Gangnam District issue an official document mandating that the following existing Korean laws be enforced by its government officials, police and judges:

Seoul Metropolitan City Official Announcement No.94 (2/21/1984) bans the sale of dog meat as "repugnant food," but there is absolutely no enforcement. (http://goo.gl/oW5Bhs)

Unauthorized processing of food waste 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, 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 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.

The slaughter of dogs for their 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 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 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 carcass 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): http://koreandogs.org/kara-publishes-legal-information-booklet-ending-dog-meat-consumption/

We believe these demands are in line with the goal 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 Seoul Gangnam District’s image and severely tarnished your district’s Sister city relationship. The time to end this tragedy is now. Thank you for taking swift action! The favor of your reply is requested. 

 

Suggested message in Hungarian 

Budapest V. kerületének polgármestere, Szentgyörgyvölgyi Péter: Hozzák testvérvárosuk, Szöul Kangnam-ku kerületének tudomására, hogy ellenzik a kutyák és macskák kínzását és elfogyasztását.

Tisztelt Szentgyörgyvölgyi Péter Polgármester Úr! Tisztelt Képviselő Urak és Hölgyek!

Arra kérjük Önöket, hogy tekintsék meg a dél-koreai kutyahúsiparról készült alábbi videókat:
1. rész: https://youtu.be/_ZVQjgGb4RQ
2. rész: https://youtu.be/ivHffcM5B6w
A kutyák egész életükben ketrecekben szenvednek, árammal agyonütik és megölik őket – ez az iszonyatos dél-koreai kutyahúsipar: https://koreandogs.org/jtbc-news-electric-tortured-in-cages/

Önök szerint Budapest V. kerületének érdemes bármely várossal vagy kerülettel testvérvárosi kapcsolatot fenntartani, amely megengedi, hogy kutyákat és macskákat kínozzanak és fogyasszanak el?

Kangnam-ku Dél-Korea egyik legnagyobb kutyahúsfogyasztó kerülete. Számos kutyahúsfarm, vágóhíd, étterem, és ún. “egészségcentrum” működik benne, melyek kutyahúsból készült “elixíreket” árusítanak. A kutyák egész életüket mocskos, ürülékkel borított, a föld szintje felett elhelyezett ketrecekben töltik, melyek nem védik őket az időjárás viszontagságaitól. Arra kényszerítik őket, hogy a kegyetlen lemészárlásukat megelőzően romlott és penészes kimchit, valamint csilipaprikát egyenek. Árammal agyoncsapják, kalapáccsal fejbeverik, felakasztják, agyonverik, átvágják a torkukat, illetve élve megsütik vagy megfőzik őket. Sok hely van Szöulban, ahol a kutyákat a félelemtől reszkető, ketrecbe zárt társaik szeme láttára végzik ki. Ráadásul az áldozatok egy része elrabolt házikedvenc, akik ugyanerre a rettenetes sorsra jutnak. A betegségben elpusztult felnőtt és kölyökkutyák testével úgy bánnak mint a szeméttel, gyakran a kétségbeesésében síró anyakutya ketrece elé dobják a testeket és hagyják ott megrohadni.

Internetes kereséssel tucatnyi ún. Egészségcentrumot találhatunk, melyek jellemzően kutya és/vagy macska “elixíreket” (más néven kutya szodzsu vagy macska szodzsu) árulnak, emellett kutyahúst felszolgáló éttermekre is lelhetünk, mindezt Szöul Kangnam-ku kerületében.

Kérjük szorgalmazzák, hogy Jeong Sun-Gyun, Szöul Kangnam-ku kerületének polgármestere zárassa be az összes illegális kutyahús-farmot, vágóhidat, piacot, szállítót és éttermet, amely ezen termékeket szolgálja fel. Elindítottunk egy online petíciót, amelyben az Önök segítségét kérjük a szöuli kutya- és macskahúsipar kegyetleneségeinek megszüntetéséhez: https://chng.it/mdP54NNy

Előre is köszönjük válaszukat a kutya- és macskahúsipar kegyetlenségeit elszenvedő állatok nevében.

Tisztelettel,

 

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Signatures: 6,829Next Goal: 7,500
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Decision Makers

  • Mayor Péter SzentgyörgyvölgyiBudapest District V (kerülete Belváros-Lipótváros)
  • Mayor Jeong Sun-GyunSeoul Gangnam District, South Korea
  • 전인수 의원Gangnam-gu Council
  • 허주연 의원Gangnam-gu Council
  • 최남일 의원Gangnam-gu Council