IAKA/KAPS <http://www.koreananimals.org> Dogaid Australia <http://www.dogaid.freeservers.com>
Currently Dogaid Australia (who is 100% behind the wonderful work of IAKA/KAPS) is trying to get 60 minutes in Australia to do a story. Time is running short We need to do all we can to stop this. Sample letters and contacts that people can write in Dogaid Australia <http://www.dogaid.freeservers.com> and IAKA/KAPS <http://www.koreananimals.org>.
Below is a letter to 60minutes. A sample, please copy and paste letter on a word document and post letter by airmail to 60 minutes in Australia if you wish to help.
Kind regards,
Laura Teresa
President of Dogaid Australia
To: Managing Editor
60 Minutes
PO BOX 600
WILLOUGHBY NSW 2068 Australia
60 Minutes Feedback page:<http://ninemsn.com.au/tvshows/linetonine.asp>
Dear Executive Media Officer,
I feel compelled write this letter to request media coverage, by your well respected and popular contemporary news programme, of the issue of the dog and cat meat trade in South Korea. As a volunteer for "Dogaid" (campaigning for public awareness and education of the dog and cat meat trade), I am all too aware of and outraged at the atrocities committed on these animals in Asia.
Coverage of this topic now is more important than ever given that the South Korean Government is seeking to pass an amendment to the existing 1991 Animal Protection legislation that will serve only to strengthen the viability of this market. The existing legislation is almost never enforced and breaches of its provisions, without consequence, are widespread and commonplace. The amendment is scheduled for passage as soon as May 2004 rendering immediate action imperative. I am asking for your help in raising public awareness - such help is invaluable.
Dog meat is consumed in the belief that doing so will enhance male virility. Consequently it is regarded as an aphrodisiacal delicacy favoured mostly by wealthy older Korean males. It is believed that up to three million dogs and cats are slaughtered each year in South Korea. The animals are tortured during slaughter (hung, beaten, blowtorched, electrocuted ALIVE for hours in front of hundreds of other animals awaiting the same fate) in the belief that flow of adrenaline to the muscle enhances such properties. Cats are also boiled alive slowly and 'pets' are stolen and sold on this ILLEGAL market. Treatment of animals during rearing stages is equally as abhorrent with dogs piled on top of each other in cages without food, water or room to stand. It is common for dogs to have their eardrums pierced to render them deaf. There is substantial documentary and photographic evidence available regarding the prevalence of such practice in Korea. These abuses are happening right now despite being outlawed by Korean legislation and are allowed to continue.
Koreans and members of the Korean government have been documented as claiming dog consumption as their cultural right. Research I have done indicates that this is indeed a fallacy. This practice began out of necessity created by famine in the post-Korean War period and even then it was a vice of older males concerned about their sexual potency. Culture in my opinion implies a lengthier period of tradition than is indicative of this somewhat modern fad. Irrespective of what time period constitutes 'culture', culture should never justify animal cruelty on any level, EVER. In the event of the 'culture' argument holding true, the Koreans should be totally ashamed that their beliefs seek to legitimise animal cruelty of unimaginable proportions. Passage of this amendment will also send a signal to other Asian nations who have outlawed dog and cat consumption that this practice is more internationally acceptable. Further, it is interesting to note that the majority of Koreans do not condone this activity yet the Korean government has ignored local protests and petitions involving tens of thousands of individuals against the practice. It seems that the perceptions of the international community will have the greatest clout.
During the lead-up to the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the Korean Government effectively eradicated the practice of dog and cat consumption in recognition of the damage this practice would have on its reputation in the international arena. However, the trade has been able to re-establish itself by virtue of the corrupt government and the magnitude of the profitability of the industry. It is no secret that money buys power as exemplified by many senior Korean government officials not only secretly condoning the practice of dog consumption but also regularly engaging in it.
Corruption within the Korean government has been well documented and as such it is interesting to note the recent impeachment of the South Korean President, Roh Moo-hyun, based on electoral fraud. Whilst this charge is being heralded a misdemeanour, I am of the belief that where there is smoke, there is fire and corruption of ample proportions.
Please consider the points I have raised in my discussion on this topic. This is just scraping the surface of the barbaric acts committed against animals in South Korea. Humans have a consciousness and most are capable of distinguishing between appropriate and unethical behaviour. You do not have to be an animal lover to appreciate that it is nobody's cultural right to inflict suffering on another living thing.
We can lobby the governments everywhere to put pressure on South Korea to make changes - they will listen because they care about what other nations think of them as shown in the past. They have eradicated it before for economic reasons and they can do it again. We have to make outlawing of this trade the only option for them.
I refer you to the DogAid website for further information <http://www.dogaid.freeservers.com> and also <http://www.koreananimals.org>.
I strongly urge you to take the time to view the footage and consider taking further investigation into this issue. There are thousands of Australians that feel very strongly about this and want this sick trade to end.
Sincerely,
[your name] [your country]
An absolutely great, thought-provoking article by Brian Sewell.
Copyright 2002 Associated Newspapers Ltd.
The Evening Standard (London)
May 21, 2002
SECTION: Pg. 13
HEADLINE: Unleash the soccer dogs
BYLINE: Brian Sewell
THE World Cup - a football beano, I had best explain for those who never read the back pages of their newspapers - begins in Korea on the day devoted to St Petronella, an early martyr endowed with power to heal the sick, to whom Sven-Goran Eriksson has recently addressed his prayers for Beckham's broken toe.
The opening rounds for England are, alas, in Japan, and if luck is against the team, they may never have to cross the water to Korea, taking the fans with them. Therein lies my "alas", for I relish the thought of English football enthusiasts running riot in Korean cities in protest, not at another goal for Argentina punched into the net, but at the Koreans' beastly business of eating dogs. Imagine the furious fans freeing the dogs from the cages in which they, like lobsters in European restaurants, await their deaths, overturning the butchers' stalls, chucking the open-air cooks into the nearest river with their pots and wrecking the 5,000 or so restaurants in which dog, stewed, braised, roast or as a soup, is the day's special. Is not this hooliganism with a laudable objective a spectacle devoutly to be hoped for? South Korea is not an impoverished Third World country; one of the world's top 10 or so economies, an unsurpassed wunderkind of pseudo-western development over the past half century, it is a major player in electronics and the motor industry. That it has 10 football stadiums of world class status and is internationally recognised as fit to host the World Cup in half share with Japan, are sufficient indications that the rest of us see it as a civilised country. And so it is, in many respects, and a classic ancient culture to boot, distinct from its neighbours, China and Japan. But where the dog is concerned, it is still in the dark ages, brutal, barbarous and merciless.
Dogs are bred for food on 500 or so farms, caged in much the same cramped conditions as our battery hens, suffering much the same chronic disabilities as they gain weight over a year or more. The modern method of slaughter is by electric shock, but the old customs die hard and dogs are hanged or garrotted and, to improve the quality of the meat, pitilessly beaten as they die. I have seen a dog garrotted - it takes much longer than the wire round a human throat; I have seen a dog hanged and been compelled to intervene; neither was a pretty sight - and nor were the expressions of the slaughterers, ranging from indifferent to gleeful.
But I have also done my duty visits to abattoirs in England and what we do to cows and sheep is hardly prettier; as for the poor battery hens ...Why am I then so disturbed, distressed even, by the thought of men eating what we see as our best friends? It is a matter of culture and of circumstance. There was hardly a cat, a dog or a canary left in wartorn Europe in 1945. My stepfather had my first dog shot in September 1939 and I have a Dutch friend who still weeps at the disappearance of his during the German occupation, convinced that his parents were probably responsible and that he may have eaten part of her. Could I, starving, have eaten my equally starving dog? Had I been with Scott or Shackleton, could I, too, have eaten the sled dogs with an easy conscience? I suspect that I would more readily have eaten a fellow human being. Given the circumstance and the will to survive, we none of us know quite what we might do.
Culture is a different matter. If a thousand years ago, Koreans believed that by eating dog they developed the canine virtues of loyalty, stamina and aggression, so be it, for we, too, then knew the efficacy of dogs' tongues, newts' eyes and frogs' toes - but culture moves on and primitive beliefs must be displaced by reason and enlightenment. Not, however, in Korea. The number of dogs consumed annually is now about two million and rising. The dogmeat lobby employs experts in nutrition to preach its virtues over other meats, and the quacks of medicine tell their male clients to eat dog when sexualappetite and potency are on the wane - medicine for the superstitious and the gullible, medicine for men who believe that eating bits of tiger, rhinoceros and bear will remedy their inadequacies and ills.
There is no economic reason for any Korean to eat dog. One might excuse the custom as the relic of an impoverished society, its older inhabitants clinging to a stratagem that saved lives in their youth, but it has now become a fashionable fad food of the young who never experienced their grandfathers' privations. At this point the Korean confronts our distaste with his cultural argument, for in these politically correct times the man who defends a foul practice by saying "it is part of our culture" immediately establishes an inviolable position, leaving his enemy open to accusations of cultural imperialism.
Throughout June, however, the duration of the World Cup, the Koreans will be the cultural imperialists. At booths near the stadiums, football fans will be offered free dog stew, dog sandwiches, dog burgers, dog drumsticks, dog kebabs, dog vindaloo and, as a particular delicacy, dog pizzles and dog testicles. Dog consomme is canned and drunk instead of Coca-Cola and if touched with cream and curry powder may be mistaken for Lady Curzon's estimable soup - visitors to Korea should be extremely wary of where and what they eat.
Many of these delicious dogs have endured a life of silence, their vocal chords cut to prevent their barking, their eardrums punctured; not one has ever experienced a moment's kindness from the human beings who breed and market them; all have suffered cruelty of a degree unacceptable in the West.
Unacceptable except, of course, for the calves intended for the veal market, the pigs for cheap bacon, the battery hens for fast-food merchants, the sheep and cattle destined for the halal butcher, the geese imprisoned for foie gras, the ducks that never see so much as a puddle of water in which to wet their feet and the whales that die a long and bloody death from the harpoons of our oh so civilised friends in the north, the Norwegians.
With whales, we come to the Japanese, the other World Cup hosts. The Japanese are striving mightily to overturn the international moratorium on whaling. They slaughter dolphins in their thousands; they so overfish that vast reaches of the world's oceans have no stock; and they care not a fig for conservation.
They will fish until no fish are left, carve ivory to the last elephant, exterminate the tiger for their fetish talismanic medicine and strip the world's forests of their hardwoods, leaving dereliction in their wake.
GIVE them one whale and all whales will be dead. The only thing to be said for the Japanese is that, as far as I know they don't eat dog. The World Cup could have been withheld from Korea and Japan until the practice of eating dog and whale has ceased; both countries would have huffed and puffed, but both might well have exchanged their barbaric customs for the economic benefits of international sport.
I hold no brief for football hooligans as such, but if, throughout June, they behave in Korea and Japan like the Visigoths of Europe in the Dark Ages and exercise commendable cultural imperialism on behalf of dog and whale, then more strength to their elbows and three cheers for them.
(The previous article was provided by the International Fund for Animal Welfare)
Once again, journalist and truth-seeker David Jones writes an article to make public the plight of South Korea's dogs and cats.
© 2002 Daily Mail (London)
Tuesday May 14, 2002
SECTION: Pg 10
HEADLINE: As the BBC says sorry to World Cup hosts over dogmeat 'jokes...' Koreans DO eat dogs. It's disgusting. And I won't apologize for exposing the truth.
BODY:
Radio 5 Live, the BBC's sports station, has never been noted for its seriousness. But over
the past few days its propensity to trivialise an issue of major importance has plumbed
new depths.
This time the issue is the barbaric ill-treatment and consumption of dogs in South Korea.
The decision to joke about this disgusting practice on its World Cup website was ill-judged enough. 'Over here, a dog is for Christmas,' some Beeb wag wrote, 'over there, it could be for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
But by giving a groveling apology in the face of complaints from British-based Koreans, and replacing the item with an inaccurate 'correction'-that 'only a handful of Korean men eat dog-meat during the summer months for health reasons'-the station's bosses may have condemned millions more dogs to die.
Doubtless the BBC will dismiss this suggestion as hysterical nonsense.
Yet having recently traveled to the World Cup host country to conduct a lengthy inquiry in to the shameful slaughter of dogs for the dinner table, I fear it will be the outcome.
Why? Let me begin by apprising the 5 Live gag-writer-who have doubtless never set foot in Seoul, let alone witnessed the harrowing scenes in the city's Moran market, where dozens of condemned dogs are piled up in cages like discarded old rugs-of some hard facts.
First, it is simply not true that dog-based dishes are something of a rarity. According to the last available Korean government statistics, in 1993 some two million dogs were killed and eaten there: equivalent to one animal for every 23 people.
If this figure has reduced very slightly in recent years, it has done so only because the Far Eastern economic downturn has mad the price of dog-meat-a whole animal cost around £140-prohibitive for all but the affluent, middle-class professionals.
Nevertheless, more than 6,000 restaurants still serve dog-based recipes, the most popular being boshintang, a soupy stew enjoyed particularly during the oppressively humid summer months, when it is said to replace lost energy.
In addition, millions Koreans regularly celebrate a major event-a work promotion or moving house-with a banquet at which dog-meat is served in all manner of ways (a recently-published cook book listed more than 80 recipes).
So much for claims put about by Korea's London and Washington-based diplomats, and repeated slavishly yesterday by the BBC, that Korean's 'don't eat dogs like we eat beef or chicken'.
Of course, there are people who will ask what business it is of ours to criticize another country's culinary traditions when we slaughter cows, sheep and pigs ourselves.
As a dog-lover, my own response would be simply that dogs have always been companion animals, and are even kept as pets in Korea-though, bizarrely, many are sold for food when they grow old or their owners no longer want them.
But even if one rejects the argument that dining on spaniel or poodle is any different to eating beef or lamb, the conditions in which Korea's dogs are kept are so appalling that one grounds of sheer cruelty the industry ought to be banned outright.
Football fans visiting the new, state-of-the-art World cup stadium in the city of Daegu next month need only drive 20 minutes to the bustling local market to see this for themselves.
From the outside, the market is a colourful spectacle, with stalls of exotic fish, vegetables and spices. Venturing inside, through its narrow walkways, one uncovers a hellish vision.
What hits you first is the nauseating stench. Next, one reaches table of upturned dogs, all of them freshly electrocuted, skinned, roasted and ready for the table.
But worse, by far, is the sight of the living dogs, crammed into cages barely high enough for them [to] stand on all fours.
The Koreans will tell you, as if this somehow legitmises the industry, that only specially-bred nurangi yellow dogs are eaten.
This is another blatant lie. I was offered all kinds of breeds, including a collie and a sad-eyed old spaniel; to the Koreans one dog tastes much like the next.
They are equally fond of cats, which are kept in even worse conditions and rendered down for a tonic drink.
Most of the dogs I found at Daegu market were also destined to be boiled and sold as a 'health drink' called gaesoju.
One man showed, without any hint of shame, how their carcasses were placed into giant vats
with ginger and herbs and sold in plastic containers.
He seriously hoped to sell many of these to visiting soccer fans.
Back in 1988, when South Korea hosted the Olympic Games, this would have been highly unlikely. For then, acutely sensitive to world opinion, the Korea authorities went to great lengths to hide their dog-eating habits.
Stall and restaurants near the sporting venues were temporarily closed down.
This was designed to convince the West that in the modern high-tech South Korea, feasting on dogs was a thing of the past. This time around, the official attitude is nowhere near so defensive.
Buoyed by a wave of nationalism, which hold-somewhat dubiously-that dog-meat is integral to Korean cultural tradition, the government shows no signs of covering up the practice for the duration of the World Cup, much less apologizing.
Radio 5 Live's counterparts in the Korean broadcast media are also giving extensive air-time to its proponents.
Their case is championed by Professor Yong-Geun Ahm, an outspoken academic who ahs set out his arguments in a 347-page book on the subject, and rejoices in the sobriquet of Dr Dogmeat.
In a country where contradicting the dog-meat lobby is regarded as tantamount to treason, a small group of campaigners are placing themselves at considerable risk by trying to stop the mass slaughter of dogs.
And it is the belief of these brave people-whom I met on my visit-that the World Cup offers their last real hope of bringing sufficient international pressure to shame President Kim Dae-jung into action.
The BBC remains an organization of hug influence around the world and has the power to stimulate
serious debate and alter international opinion.
By dismissing the eating of dogs as a joke, and then apologizing to Koreans who took offence,
the voice of the British establishment has effectively condoned a practice that must horrify
the majority
its licence-paying listeners.
The Koreans will take it as a signal that they can continue eating boshintang with impunity and millions more dogs will be stewed. Doubtless Dr Dogmeat is busy planning a celebratory banquet.
Sample letter to the ambassador:
Dear Ambassador,
I am writing in reference to the killing and torture of dogs and cats in Korea. Please make every effort to remove this horror from your country.
I cannot visit Korea or buy any goods made in Korea or by Korean-owned companies because of South Korea's total failure to enact and enforce strong legislation banning the torture, killing, and consumption of companion animals, specifically dogs and cats. Butchers in your country slaughter every year countless dogs and cats.
The cruelty involved in killing these intelligent and beautiful animals is beyond belief. Please ask your government to make efforts to dispel the health myth behind the consumption and torture of dogs and cats. If your government continues to excuse this cruel practice in the name of culture and tradition, the image of Korea will continue to suffer.
If your government truly care about the interests of Korean people, they should listen to the voice of caring Koreans who want this slaughter banned and help them to restore Korea’s image in the eyes of the world. Unfortunately, many people in the world now think of the slaughter and torture of dogs and cats whenever they think of Korea. This is not the image of Korea your government wants to promote.
this image will spread far and wide if your government continues to excuse the killing and torture of dogs and cats in the name of tradition to side with the dog meat industry that makes false claims on the health benefit of eating dogs and cats.
I will not buy Korean goods, support Korean business, or visit Korea, until your government introduces laws that expel the repulsive dog meat industry from Korea once and for all and enforces these laws vigorously. I will also ask everyone I know to do the same.
Name
Country
E-mail
Dear
All Those Concerned for Korean Cats and Dogs,
On Wednesday, March 12, 2003, KAPS is organizing a World Day of Demonstration.
Manifestations will occur in several cities around the planet including London, New York, Sydney, the Netherlands, and Melbourne. Events are to begin at 12:00 noon at Korean Embassies and Consulates of the able cities.
London Demonstrations are being coordinated by Steve and Debbie Wilkinson.
For more information about London, please contact either of them at:
iakauk.mids@ntlworld.com
New York City Demonstrations are being coordinated by Greg Horak.
For more information about NYC, please contact Greg at:
lonecanislupus@yahoo.com
Sydney Demonstrations are being coordinated by Claudette Vaughan.
For more information about Sydney, please contact Claudette at:
claudelou@hotmail.com
Netherlands Demonstrations are being coordinated by Aad Hoogesteger and Miriam van der Sangen.
For more information about the Netherlands, please contact Aad at:
ahoogesteger@chello.nl or contact Miriam at: msnn@planet.nl
Melbourne Demonstrations are being coordinated by Laura Teresa.
For more information about Melbourne, please contact Laura at:
dogaid@hotmail.com
Anyone interested in coordinating an event/demonstration in their own home city on March 12, 2003, is greatly encouraged to do so. For help with planning and/or the request of materials, please contact International Aid for Korean Animals (IAKA), KAPS's international extension. Contact information is as follows:
International Aid for Korean Animals
Korea Animal Protection Society
P.O. Box 20600, Oakland, 94620-0600, USA
www.koreananimals.org
(Tel.) 510-271-6795
(Fax) 510-451-0643
iaka@koreananimals.org
kaps@koreananimals.org
Thanks for the attention you all offer the miserable cats and dogs of Korea. Please organize for them. They need our voice!
All the best,
Kyenan Kum
Founder
International Aid for Korean Animals (IAKA)
Korea Animal Protection Society (KAPS)
KAPS/IAKA http://www.koreananimals.org Mailto:iaka@koreananimals.org
To the Mayor of Seoul, mayorgk@www.metro.seoul.kr
Dear Mr Goh, Kun,
Thank you for your kind reply.
This
night, 30 May 2002 at prime time Dutch TV Channel 1 at "Netwerk" showed
a special on dog food in Korea.
We saw the dog farmer/breeder Ki Chung who sells his specially bred
1 year old dogs dogs at the food market.
The World Champioship organizer Byung Taik stated that every one of three Koreans are dog eaters
and that this is a traditions of thousands of years.
Things that taste good are good and good things taste good. Dog food is very good against a hangover. It is a part of a good and varied Korean eating culture etc etc. Then we saw a quite fanatic advocate of dog food mr Yong-Geum, who sees the position of dogs - to call someone a dog is the ultimate offence - in society as a perfect reason to eat them. It was clear that he despises any domestic contact between men and dogs and as an obvious authority he made himself a very bad ambassador for the Korean effort to protect animals.
The representative of the dog food trade mr Ki-Yong summed up the varied dog snacks and dishes that the sports tourists will be served during the world cup tournament. Further we saw pictures of the trade, slaughtering and cooking of dogs at the market and the beating-up and killing of a dog at a picnick site. Torture is used as fear and beating creates the desired flavor of dog food. As dogs are valuable as food it is clear that pets are at risk to be kidnapped for this trade.
All in all it was not a pretty sight and a negative South Korea PR to the Dutch public. However, the public was pleased to see mrs Kum and many other female dog lovers who showed that there are citizens who object to these practices and who really love their pets.
Please use your influence to stop this practice. And please be assured
that this call is not directed at Korean people but to stop human cruel behavior against animals
in general.
Thank you,
Action Against Poisoning
www.actionagainstpoisoning.com
info@aap.f2s.com
-----Original Message-----
From: mayorgk@www.metro.seoul.kr [mailto:mayorgk@www.metro.seoul.kr]
Sent: woensdag 29 mei 2002 10:02
To: info@aap.f2s.com
Subject: XXXXXXXXXX? A.A.P. XX
Dear A.A.P. members,
Thank you for your letter.
I read that you had seen an article about plans to sell dog meat for free and got worried about animals in Korea. I appreciate your kind suggestion to ban selling dog meat in general as well as during the World Cup.
Actually, Korean people love animals as much as others and emphasize on the protection of animals, especially for children"s emotional education. Also, Korean families keeping pet animals have significantly increased.
Therefore, as you know, the Korean Animal Protection Law was established in 1991 in order to protect animals and prevent abuses against them. This law prohibits killing or hurting animals in a brutal way and contains punishment articles. Especially with regard to the World Cup 2002, the government took measures to prevent animal abuses and formed investigation squad composed of civil servants in charge. They have been doing intensive control of animal abuses that may happen in old markets of some areas.
We checked up the news about free trial event of dog meat, which was reported in some newspapers recently. The fact is that some local distributors of edible dog meat had just mentioned the event as one of their possible business plans and newspapers reported it as if it were a hard fact. Related authority already banned their distribution and potential event.
Each country has its own food culture and Korea also has unique food such as Bulgoggi(grilled beef in soybean sauce), Samgytang(Korean chicken soup) and Bibimbap(rice mixed with various vegetables). Please understand that what you are worried about is done by very few people. If you visit Korea and experience its food culture along with its beautiful nature and people"s kind hearts, you will have another impression about Korea.
Seoul Metropolitan Govemment will continue to make its best efforts to protect animals so that they can maintain their own habits and live together with human beings.
I thank you again for your kind interest in animals and wish happiness for you and your family.
Sincerely,
Goh, Kun
Mayor of Seoul
From: Nancy A. Korman <NKorman@ix.netcom.com>
Organization: Mobility Electronics, Inc.
Date: Friday, April 26, 2002 15:50
Subject: Korean dog/cat torture protest
Hi,
I don't mean to dampen anyone's enthusiasm at protesting these horrific practices, but......online petitions are not highly regarded by their recipients. There is no way to verify that the people signed even exist, nevermind want to or have signed the petition. Also, lots of signatures get 'lost' when the list gets dropped somewhere.
What IS much more effective is to mail personal signed letters or jam up their fax machines with personal, signed letters. Even emails are better than lists like this.
Following are addresses of officials in Korea you can write to and a sample letter you can tailor to fit your opinions.
President Kim, Dae Jung
Blue House
1 Saejong-ro
Chongro-ku
Seoul, South Korea 110-050
Prime Minister Lee, Han-Dong
77-6 Sejong-Ro, Jongno-gu
Seoul, South Korea 110-050
Representative Ham, Suk-Jae
Chairman of The Standing Committee of the Agriculture,
Forestry, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries
National Assembly
1 Yoido-dong, Youngdungpo-gu,
Seoul, South Korea 150-702
Minister Choi, Sun-Jung
The Ministry of Health and Welfare
1 Joongang-dong
Kwanchun City, Kyoungki-do
South Korea 427-760
Minister Kim, Dong-Tae
The Ministry of Agriculture
1 Joongang-dong
Kwanchun City, Kyoungki-do
South Korea 427-760
A sample letter to send..........
Dear President Kim, Dae Jung,
I am horrified at the continued torture and consumption of Korea's companion animals.
Even with the Korean Animal Protection Law for cats and dogs and a Ministry of Health Law banning the consumption of dog-meat soup (boshintang), dogs are still beaten, electrocuted, skinned alive, and slaughtered by the thousands for boshintang, while cats are still beaten and boiled alive for rheumatism remedies (goyangi soju).
PLEASE IMMEDIATELY ENFORCE THE FOLLOWING:
1. Enforce the Ministry of Education to introduce and maintain a public-education campaign to teach modern, internationally accepted general-care knowledge of cats and dogs, including the importance of spay-neuter surgery, and to address the many unfounded Korean myths surrounding their species.
2. Enforce the Ministry of Agriculture's duty of office to outlaw the slaughter of cats and dogs, and stop the Ministry of Agriculture from "passing the buck" to the Ministry of Health.
3. Enforce the Ministry of Health's duty of office to uphold and enforce Korea's current law, which bans dog-meat soup, and stop the Ministry of Health from "passing the buck" to the Ministry of Agriculture.
4. Enforce the allocation through the Ministry of Finance of reasonable budgets to the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Ministry of Health to carry out their official responsibilities on behalf of cats and dogs and other animals.
I WILL MAKE A CONSCIOUS EFFORT NOT TO BUY KOREAN GOODS OR SUPPORT KOREAN BUSINESS. I WILL NOT VISIT KOREA, OR SUPPORT THE WORLD CUP 2002 UNTIL KOREANS STOP EATING DOGS AND CATS.
I urge you to use your considerable influence and make every effort to uphold the existing laws in Korea that protect dogs and cats, and to encourage new legislation that clearly condemns the human consumption of these animals.
The world will know Korea as a cruel and backward looking country. This would be tragic because we know that Korea has the capacity to be a progressive and enlightened nation in the coming century. Dogs and cats are becoming increasingly important to people everywhere as pets and companions.
Please help protect these domestic animals in Korea.
Yours sincerely,
Your Name Here
IAKA Sydney Representative Email: offthemenu@hotmail.com
IAKA NY Representative: Greg Horak lonecanislupus@yahoo.com
IAKA Nederlands Representative Email: Miriam van der Sangen msnn@planet.nl
IAKA Brussels Representative Email: ROSA MERTENS : rosa.mertens@pandora.be
IAKA UK Representative Email: Steve Wilkinson stevdeb.wilko@virgin.net
Korean Consulate Email: info@koreanconsulate.org
Kyenan Kum
International Aid for Korean Animals
Korea Animal Protection Society
P.O. Box 20600, Oakland, 94620-0600, US
® Action Against Poisoning -- www.actionagainstpoisoning.com -- e-mail: info@aap.f2s.com
http://www.actionagainstpoisoning.com/pages/uk/korea.html -- Last updated on April 25, 2004