Dog lovers and animal rights activists are celebrating a monumental event in South Korea – the closure of the country’s largest dog meat slaughterhouse. According to Humane Society International (HSI), the local authorities have shuttered Taepyeong – a slaughterhouse where thousands of dogs were killed.
Beautiful new plans
The city council plans to create a community park at the side where so much blood was shed. A press release from HSI explains:
Seongnam city council intends to build a community park on the land, creating a vibrant public space where once hundreds of thousands of dogs were slaughtered for human consumption.
The horrible conditions discovered inside
The conditions discovered at the slaughterhouse are horrifying. According to HSI, a “pile of dead dogs” was found on the floor, as well as knives, a “de-hairing” device and electrocution equipment.
HSI/Canada senior campaign manager Ewa Demianowicz said:
“It was deeply disturbing to see the inside of this slaughterhouse and to know that millions of dogs have died terribly here. It was a bleak, brutal facility, and a stark reminder of the unimaginable suffering caused by this industry. Thankfully, today’s events have brought us a giant step closer to ending the South Korean dog meat trade for good.”
HSI/Korea’s Nara Kim stated:
“Both as a Korean citizen and an animal campaigner, it was incredibly moving for me to a part of the historic closure of this notorious dog slaughterhouse. I shudder to think how many millions of beautiful dogs will have met their horrific fate at this place over the years. It was a stain on the city of Seongnam and we are so pleased to see it bulldozed. This really feels like a landmark moment in the demise of the dog meat industry in South Korea, and sends the clear message that the dog meat industry is increasingly unwelcome in Korean society.”
A brighter future
Dog meat consumption is rapidly on the decline in South Korea – in fact, a recent poll showed that 70 percent of the country’s residents no longer want to consume dog meat.
Hyunji Kim of Korea Animal Rights Advocates says:
“We have been making constant efforts to shut down the Taepyeong-dong dog slaughterhouse through investigations and putting pressure on Gyeonggi province and Seongnam-si. As Korea’s biggest, brutal, illegal dog slaughterhouse, Taepyeong-dong is notorious for supplying huge amounts of dog bodies to nearby Seongnam Moran traditional market. Its closure is an historical event, and hopefully may trigger the closure of other illegal dog slaughterhouses throughout the country. Until we achieve this, we really appreciate the support of both Korean people and global citizens who love animals for helping our campaigns to completely end dog meat in Korea.”
More from HSI here.
(Image via Humane Society International/Michael Bernard)
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Sweet doggie love
Super Cute!!
Thank you, God, a million times over! Now let’s work on closing the next one!
Hallelujah, awesome news. About time. No more sweet innocent dogs will have to be subjected to cruel and unthinkable torture. ????❤
finally. I’m too embarassed to even say anything. About the sub humans that did this. Finally !!! Someone heard