South Korea is planning to introduce a ban on dog meat consumption by the end of this year, Seoul authorities said.

Eating dog meat is neither explicitly prohibited nor legalized in South Korea, and successive governments have failed to make progress on pledges to stop the practice.

Public and political momentum to outlaw dog meat has been growing in the country as the centuries-old practice has fallen out of favour with most young Koreans. It has also attracted international criticism from international rights activists.

The ruling People Power Party on Friday laid out a timetable for action.

“We are planning to enact a Special Act to ban dog meat within this year to address this issue as soon as possible,” said ruling party lawmaker Yu Eui-dong, after a meeting at parliament attended by the Agriculture Ministry officials and animal rights groups.

The special act will allow a three-year period to phase out the industry. If the bill passes the legislature before the year-end, the dog meat ban would come into full effect in 2027.

The law will require dog farms, slaughterers, traders and restaurants to each submit a phaseout plan to local authorities.

“We will provide full support to farmers, butchers and other businesses facing closure or transition due to this law,” Yu said, adding that compensation will be limited to legally registered businesses that submit the plan.

Yoon Suk Yeol, the president, and first lady Kim Keon Hee are known as animal-lovers, having six dogs and five cats. Kim attended an animal rights event in August and said that “dog meat consumption should come to an end ... in an era when humans and pets coexist as friends.”

Animal rights groups welcomed Friday’s announcement and urged the South Korean parliament to pass the bill.

“News that the South Korean government is at last poised to ban the dog meat industry is like a dream come true for all of us who have campaigned so hard to end this cruelty,” said Chae Jung-ah of the Humane Society International, who attended the parliamentary meeting.

“Korean society has reached a tipping point where most people now reject eating dogs and want to see this suffering consigned to the history books.”

But Joo Young-bong, head of the Korea Dog Meat Farmers’ Association, said the government proposal is “unviable.” “Transitioning off our lifelong job is a difficult and unsustainable option for us farmers in 60s or 70s,” he said in an interview.

The industry should be able to sustain itself for at least two decades, as long as consumers of dog meat, mainly in their 50s or older, exist in the country, Joo said. The voices of farmers and other industry stakeholders have been largely left out of the ongoing policy discussion on a dog meat ban, he said.

According to a government study last year, South Korea has about 1,150 dog farms and over half a million dogs raised for meat, a significantly smaller figure than decades ago. The declining demand for dog meat reflects a shift in public perception along with growing pet ownership in South Korea.

Main Source: The Washington Post