Are Dogs Livestock? Civic Groups Protest For and Against Dog Meat

Animal rights groups stage a rally near the presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, on Jan. 12, 2020. (Yonhap)

SEOUL, Jan. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — Animal rights groups held a rally in protest after the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs included dogs under the category of livestock in the enforcement ordinance of livestock legislation.

The “Companion Animal Organization” against dog meat held a rally near the presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae, Sunday afternoon and urged the government to exclude dogs from the legal classification of livestock.

In response, members of the Korean Meat Dog Association held a press conference in Jongno District, Seoul, later in the day, claiming that the breeding, distribution and eating of dogs, which are classified as livestock and livestock products, is still legal.

Thus far, Article 2 of the Livestock Act has designated animals such as cattle, horses and pigs that are raised as livestock.

“Other animals that are designated by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs,” were also considered as livestock and included dogs in the enforcement rules.

However, with the change in the livestock law, other animals were required to be set in enforcement ordinances, not in enforcement rules, and the government defined dogs as livestock in a revision to the enforcement ordinance of the livestock law that went into effect this year.

In response, the animal rights group claimed, “More than 200,000 people petitioned the presidential office to exclude dogs from the legal definition of livestock last year, and the presidential secretary for agriculture also promised to consider overhauling related regulations, but rather included dogs in the enforcement ordinance.”

D. M. Park (dmpark@koreabizwire.com)