HORRIFIC DOG CRUELTY IN KOREA . . .

August 30, 2002

1. Urgent Message from Kyenan & Sunnan

Dear Friend to Korean Animals,

The letter below is from an eyewitness to the some of the worst cruelty I have ever heard described, made even worse by the dog butcher's insensitivity to his victim as a sentient, feeling being. The white dog expressed love for his trusted guardian right up to the moment he handed him over to the butcher.

Chun Am (a pseudonym), Sunnan and myself are urging animal defenders everywhere to circulate this letter as widely as possible, and to send by regular mail or by email to the Korean government officials. (See addresses below)

Be warned--the letter is very graphic and heart-wrenching, and I cry tears of rage and sorrow every time I read it, which is why I haven't been able to translate it for our non-Korean members until now. It sickens me, and I am deeply angered that these acts continue in the face of so much denial from so many, including government officials, who refuse to believe that these animals are deliberately tortured with maximum cruelty.

Please send your strong protest letters with a copy of Chun Am's letter to as many Korean government officials, Korean Embassies and Korean companies as you can.

2. Letter from Chun Am-His Eyewitness Account of Horrific Dog Torture

(Translated from original letter in Korean)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THESE TERRIBLE, CRUEL ACTS?

At 7:30 on the morning of May 14, 2002, I left my inn to take a walk by Manripo Beach. I came upon two men talking. One man walked up to a dog tied up by a stream.

This white dog was jumping up and down and wagging his tail, happy to see his owner. The owner untied the rope from the tree and used the rope to tie up the dog. He handed him over to the other man.

From the moment he was handed over to the second man, the dog was unable to move and the man dragged the dog for about twenty meters to a post. He put the rope around the post and yanked the dog over roughly, then tied him to the post.

The dog was screaming in pain and flailing. This middle-aged man used his two hands to pull on the dog's tail with all his strength, causing the dog to be choked around the neck, crushing the dog's backbone. Then he was using all his strength to pull the dog by his left leg. Next he did the same with the right leg.

While the dog was still alive, he was tearing his body apart. The dog was barely able to move, and he was moaning with horrible pain. He took a short break, looking at the dog and observing the dog's dying condition. He waited a few minutes, and proceeded to repeat these actions about three times over the next thirty minutes.

He stopped to check if the dog was breathing to make sure he was still alive, then he went back to his house, four meters away. The dog was still alive and still moving. I asked this man, "Why are you killing this dog so painfully, so cruelly? Why can't you kill him quickly?" He thought I was a dogmeat buyer or someone who enjoyed dogmeat.

He smiled at me and proudly told me, "Dog should take a long time to be killed, that way it tastes better." At that moment I was so enraged. "All the other countries who don't eat dog advance as a country. If we don't stop eating dogs, we are never going to be a progressive country." "People in Seoul enjoy eating dog more." the dog butcher replied, and he went back to his room.

My heart was aching and pounding with panic. I couldn't breathe from the shock. I ran the 150 meters back to the inn, my back and face covered in sweat and tears. An hour later I calmed down. The group I was travelling with had to leave. While I was leaving, I looked at the dog and saw him still tied up, dangling on the post. I was thinking about how many hours would pass until sunset and how long this butcher would hang the dog alive, if he was still alive.

I cried and closed my eyes. "White Dog, I wish you peace in heaven. The man who killed you is so cruel, how can he be part of our Korean people? White Dog, you can't forgive the butcher, but I will do it for you. I feel that our country is still so primitive. Someday the butcher will die. I believe that he will die just like you died, with pain.

When you are reborn, hopefully you are never born into a country like this one, I hope you will be born into some advanced country."

This past week, I cannot work, I cannot sleep with the rage and this feeling of despair. This man had put in a big post in front of his house with equipment all around it, which seems to show that he has been doing this kind of work for a long time. He does this thing when an order comes from a dog soup restaurant. I am sure this expert dog butcher knows how to give maximum cruelty.

That white dog so cruelly killed was eaten by savage dog eaters at a table of drinking, laughing people, who pay expensively for tender meat!

In my life, I have observed that the dog meat eaters are always ailing, are never healthy and don't live a long time. I don't know why.

Everyone, please be aware there is no one in this world more cruel than this butcher. Would you like to go to this Manripo Beach in Taeahn-gun where you might see this evil, cruel man who has already given up his humanity?

Please let everyone all over the country know about this cruel man and his acts by sending this letter continuously to the newspapers, television, magazines-use all the media. Let them know the name of this place.

Because I fear revenge, I regretfully cannot reveal my real identity, but some day I will.

May 20, 2002

A business man in his fifties, living in Sucho-gu, Seoul, Korea.

After you read this letter, please send it out all over the internet.

Kyenan Kum, International Aid for Korean Animals, Korea Animal Protection Society, P.O. Box 20600, Oakland, 94620-0600, USA

www.koreananimals.org ..........[email protected]

IAKA/KAPS Urgent Update: October 2002

The dog-meat lobby will stop at nothing to achieve its horrific goal: legalizing dog and cat consumption in South Korea.

After we filed a lawsuit in August against the Ministry of Health and the Food and Drug Administration for failing to enforce its laws against selling dog soup, we were shocked to learn that the suit was rejected.

The reason: in 1994 the dog-meat lobby got the Ministry of Health to secretly eliminate the portion of the 1984 Food Sanitation Law that classified dog meat as a “disgusting food” not fit for human consumption. That effectively ended our lawsuit against the government for its failure to eradicate the dog-meat industry.

Now the dog-meat lobby is trying to get the 1991 Animal Protection Law amended to allow some dogs and cats to be classified as consumption animals.

The only thing standing in the way of the complete legalization of torturing and killing dogs and cats for food is the opinion of people like you.

It’s essential that you make your voice be heard in protest!

Only an overwhelming outpouring of world opinion will persuade the South Korean government to back down. Here’s what you can do to help save the lives of millions of dogs and thousands of cats in South Korea:

#1: Copy and send the protest letter to the Bureau of International Expositions, urging it not to select South Korea to host the 2010 World Expo!

#2: Copy and send the protest letter to the International Olympic Committee, urging it not to select South Korea to host the 2010 Winter Olympics!

#3: Copy and send the letter to the South Korean president and Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to protest amending the Animal Protection Law to classify some dogs and cats as consumption animals!

#4: Copy and send one of the two protest letters that respond to the letter sent by the Director General of the South Korean Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry’s Livestock Bureau!

The first letter contains and responds to excerpts from the Director General’s letter – which is full of patronizing, condescending lies about Korean traditions.

The second letter responds to the Director General’s letter, quoting especially offensive passages.

The Director General’s letter follows that letter; it can also be viewed at our website, www.koreananimals.com

Here are the downloadable letters:-

Letter 1 .........Letter 2 .........Letter 3 .........Letter 4 .........Letter 5 .........Letter 6

Kyenan Kum
International Aid for Korean Animals
Korea Animal Protection Society
P.O. Box 20600, Oakland, 94620-0600, USA
www.koreananimals.org
[email protected]
(Tel.) 510-271-6795
(Fax) 510-451-0643

July 16, 2003

July 16, 2003 marks the beginning of Korea’s Bok Days, or the "dog days" of summer. More dogs are consumed during Bok Days than any other

time of the year. The Korea Animal Protection Society in Korea and its sister organization, International Aid for Korean Animals in California, have called for worldwide demonstrations until the Korean government enforces the laws and ends the dog and cat meat trade.

Each year, millions of dogs and hundreds of thousands of cats are tortured, killed, and eaten in South Korea in the name of mythical health benefits.

Despite the disclaimers of scientists, many Koreans continue to believe that dogmeat stew (boshintang) enhances male virility and that cat juice (goyangi soju) eases rheumatism.

The plight of these animals is horrific. Raised in rural farms or urban backyards, dog spend their entire lives in cramped wire cages where they suffer from dehydration and hunger, exposure to the elements, unsanitary conditions, and abuse. Then they are dragged from their cages and deliberately tortured to death. Most dogs are hung, bludgeoned with pipes or hammers, or electrocuted.

A blowtorch is used to burn the hair off and brown the skin, sometimes while the dog is still alive. These violent methods of killing are thought to both tenderize the flesh and improve its aphrodisiacal qualities by stimulating the release of adrenaline. The more the dog suffers, the more flavorful and beneficial the meat is thought to be.

Feral cats are trapped in wire cages and killed by being placed in a sack and pounded against the ground, while domesticated cats are often dropped alive into a cauldron of boiling water and liquefied. They are cooked with ginger, dates, and chestnuts in order to make "cat juice," which dealers claim will cure rheumatism.

CREATING CHANGE

By rallying together to protest these abuses, we have been able to make effective change. Through international protests the Korean government passed the Animal Protection Law in 1991. If we show our support of the companion animals of Korea, we can expect effective amendments to the existing Law and the end to the torture, slaughter, and consumption of dogs and cats in Korea.

How You Can Help

Protest letters are a very effective means of voicing your objections to animal cruelty, and of helping affect important change. For a list of Korean

government officials, please contact IAKA by mail, e-mail, fax or phone.

Visit our website at www.koreananimals.org or contact IAKA/KAPS by phone, letter, e-mail or mail to find out about our current campaigns.

Please consider making a gift to IAKA/KAPS. Your donation will help us campaign against the slaughter and consumption of companion animals in S. Korea, as well as continuing to provide a sanctuary for Korean dogs and cats.

About IAKA/KAPS

International Aid for Korean Animals and Korea Animal Protection Society are the only two

groups that focus exclusively on the plight of companion animals in Korea. As sister organizations, they work hand in hand: IAKA

raises funds and promotes awareness within the international community, while KAPS provides animal rescue and welfare services,

lobbies, and organizes protest demonstrations within Korea. Together, they seek to put an end to the torturing, slaughter, and

consumption of dogs and cats in Korea.

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