Savage Seoul aims to reclassify dogmeat 

This is despicable!

Posted Wed Apr 8, 2008 10:32pm AEDT

The Seoul city government is seeking to classify man’s best friend as livestock in order to set food safety standards for South Korean lovers of dog meat, officials say.

Somewhere between two and four million dogs are estimated to be consumed in South Korea every year but the slaughtering and processing is carried out in dirty environments and poses a risks to diners’ health, they said.

Since dogs are not currently classed as livestock there are no hygiene regulations on their slaughter, officials said.

“Dogs are consumed in their millions in this country every year. That’s a fact. We have to take care of this situation,” Lee Hae-Woo, head of the city government’s department of food safety, said.

“We plan to recommend to the central government that dogs are classified as livestock.

“This is like a hot potato but we don’t pretend the issue does not exist.”

South Korea’s capital has always been ambivalent about dog meat.

To avoid adverse publicity before the 1988 Olympics, the city banned dog meat and snake meat as “abhorrent food.”

The order is now largely ignored and an estimated 500 dog meat restaurants operate in Seoul alone.

The reclassification proposal sparked angry reactions from animal activists, who staged street protests and launched on-line signature campaigns.

“No other country in the world but South Korea gives a legal green light to dog meat consumption,” the Korea Association for Animal Protection said in a statement.

“South Korea’s motto is globalisation but it seeks to go back to the Stone Age as far as dog meat consumption is concerned.”

Lee Won-Bok, association president, said if the proposal became reality, dog meat consumption would increase drastically.

“It’s horrible to imagine dog meat on display next to beef and ham at supermarkets,” he said.

“It would also be nauseating to see roasted dog meat on the menu of your restaurant.”

- AFP