Animal Rescue Groups Fear for Surviving Dogs as S. Korea Slaughterhouses Close
South Korea is banning dog meat next year, and large numbers of slaughterhouses are closing. But animal rights groups looking to rescue dogs from slaughterhouses fear the worst as few surviving dogs turn up.
South Korea's Dog Meat Ban: The Fate of Rescued Dogs
REPORTER:
Until recently, these cages held dogs ready for slaughter. Elsewhere in this slaughterhouse south of Seoul are reminders of what went on here—deadly electric prods along with scattered canine skulls.
REPORTER:
In the past, dog meat was seen in Korea as a fortifying summer food. But since dogs weren’t legally livestock in South Korea, there were no humane guidelines in place for their slaughter. Drowning, hanging, beating and electrocution while still conscious—slaughterhouse owners were free to do what they wanted.
REPORTER:
Even the dogs’ feed was often just food waste. Animal rights advocates combing the site imagine what conditions must have been like.
Shin Joo-woon (KOREA ANIMAL RIGHTS ADVOCATES):
The dogs here witnessed the entire process of dogs being slaughtered and dissected. Then they must have heard screams and smelt everything.
REPORTER:
But times have changed in South Korea—and as the abandonment of this slaughterhouse shows, quickly, too. The country has embraced keeping dogs as pets over the years—and in 2024, when the government announced it would ban the breeding, slaughter and sale of dogs for human consumption, only a small minority in the country still ate dog meat.
REPORTER:
Even back at the abandoned site, animal group Korea Animal Rights Advocates managed to save 29 dogs and file a legal animal cruelty complaint against the owner.
REPORTER:
Once the dog meat ban takes force next year, slaughterhouses, breeders and sellers of meat face three years in prison for violating it. The agriculture ministry says as of May, over 80% of the country’s dog farms have applied to shut down. But there's an uneasy question in the air: what happens to survivors from slaughterhouses like these?
REPORTER:
The government paid breeders compensation per dog released but never checked where the dogs went to. There was no adoption campaign. Animal groups inspecting slaughterhouses fear owners took the money and killed off all the dogs they could.
Yoon Seong-mo (KOREA ANIMAL RIGHTS ADVOCATES):
It is presumed that they were likely plucked, slaughtered and sold away. Fortunately, the dogs remaining here were in good physical condition, and we had no choice but to rescue them because they would have been at risk of being slaughtered had we not done so.
REPORTER:
Any other dogs that might be saved by animal rights’ groups, will likely have to find new homes overseas. Despite a growing love of pet dogs in South Korea, the breeds used for meat, such as the Korean Yellow Spitz, tend to be large—not ideal for a country where the majority of people live in apartments. In the last two decades, another rescue group, CARE, has only managed about two dozen domestic adoptions, despite sending thousands more dogs abroad in the same time.
REPORTER:
For those dogs that have made it out of the slaughterhouse, the future remains uncertain.
Justin Wu and John Van Trieste for TaiwanPlus.
