Analysis of Field Research

After having detailed interviews with the dog farm owners and the merchants involved in the dog meat industry, it would seem that the future of the dog meat industry is uncertain and is rapidly shrinking in size. The people involved in the industry do not have any pride in the work that they do. It is a dirty business.

To make higher quality dog meat, all dog ranchers feed the dogs with human food waste and do not provide the dogs with any water. The ranchers claimed that the dogs that are fed actual dog food do not get purchased by the buyers because the meat quality is allegedly not as good. None of the ranchers and slaughterers recognized that not providing water for dogs was a severe form of animal cruelty.

Obtaining the best flavored dog meat was a priortiy in dog slaughterhouses and farms equipped with slaughterhouses. Because of the belief that dog meat tastes better if the dog suffers before it dies, brutalities are common in such places. And it is impossible to impose any limitations on the brutal slaughtering of dogs with the current animal welfare situation in Korea. If the sanitary slaughter initiative is passed and consuming dog meat becomes legal, more brutal slaughtering will occur and more cost reductions will be impose to the deteriment of dogs, all with the aim of providing better flavored dog meat. Many slaughterhouses will operate outside of the law, and the numbers of these will also increase because costs are lower to operate them.

In most cases, fearful dogs on farms are left to watch their companions and family members get hung, stabbed and burnt to death. Slaughterers were emotionless and total disregarded the extreme fear, pain and suffering that the dogs around them were going through. These places are like concentration camps for dogs. The only way to truly and effectively protect these dogs is to make the consumption of dog meat illegal. Once there is no market for dog meat, farms and slaughterhouses will close.

Public education is a must to raise the consciousness of people, to reduce ignorance, and to build awareness that other species are sentient beings. Putting an end to dog meat consumption will help in this regard. If we have any respect towards our neighbors and peers or love of our country, we cannot allow the degrading dog industry to continue just because a few people have the taste for the dog meat. The government needs to recognized that it will only make a bad situation even worse by legalizing dog consumption.