IDA Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Korea’

"Sign" for the Virtual Demo - Just Right Click in the image and Choose Save. Then you can repost this image anywhere.

Every year approximately TWO MILLION dogs are inhumanely caged, tortured and used for food in South Korea! The dogs are crammed like vegetables into crates. When a customer makes a selection, the dogs are roughly yanked from the cage and intentionally abused before being slaughtered for the sale.

In Defense of Animal’s partner in South Korea recently shut down a dog meat farm in the Gyeonggi Province. While this is a huge victory for the dogs of South Korea, more must be done.

This practice of killing and eating dogs is not because of some long-standing cultural tradition. In fact, most Koreans find the cruelty and killing appalling. Yet it continues because it is backed by government indifference and because profit-driven industry forces aggressively promote the superstition that the more the dog suffered in his death, the more virility a man will experience when he eats the flesh.

Please join IDA and our Korean colleagues by participating in The International Day of Action! There are demonstrations happening all over the world but don’t worry if there isn’t one in your area. This year we are also having a “virtual demonstration”!

It is very easy to take part in the “virtual demonstration” – just change your profile photo on your Facebook or Twitter pages to our “Sign” (provided in this blog entry) and post this petition to the South Korean Embassy in your status line or tweet it to your friends! By encouraging your friends and followers to sign this petition – you’ll be urging the Korean government to strengthen and enforce animal protection laws so that these cruelties can be brought to an end! So even if you can’t be outside an embassy next Tuesday – you can still let those decision makers inside the embassy know you care about how these dogs are treated and you want them to do something about it!

Imagine an elderly golden retriever behind the bars of a small cage; his warm brown eyes begging for your help. In the United States this dog would most likely be in a shelter waiting for his forever home, but the dog I speak of was condemned to a tortuous death in the South Korean meat market. Dogs just like those you and I cherish as members of our family are killed for their meat every day in South Korea. In Defense of Animals cannot turn away from the great need of these helpless beings.

IDA’s South Korean partners, Coexistence for Animal Rights on Earth, (CARE) recently received information about a remote dog meat “farm” in Gyeonggi Province. When CARE activists visited the facility, they discovered an appalling scene. Dogs were living in miserable conditions in feces-laden, cramped, ramshackle cages. These neglected dogs were filthy- some suffering from severe injuries.

The conditions were so horrible; these brave activists simply couldn’t leave without the dogs. At the risk of arrest and personal injury, they rescued the dogs, bringing them to CARE’s animal shelter to be treated, cleaned and, most likely, loved for the first time. You can see the images of the dramatic rescue here .

Some in South Korea believe that the more the dog suffers during death, the more virility a man will obtain from eating his or her flesh. Dogs are tortured to death in shocking and unimaginable ways because of this horrible, antiquated superstition. Not only do these dogs endure loneliness and squalor during their short lives, their deaths are inconceivably cruel.

Most South Koreans consider dogs to be companion animals. Only a small minority eat them. We want to support those South Koreans who advocate that animals deserve compassion, love and respect; that they are sentient beings and not mere commodities to be bought, sold and slaughtered.

Please help IDA draw international attention to this issue by participating in our International Day of Action for South Korean Dogs on Tuesday, July 6, 2010. Dozens of cities around the world will host outreach events to educate their communities about this important issue. Activists will pass out leaflets and hold signs outside South Korean Embassies and Consulates around the globe, drawing world attention to the dogs of South Korea. Find out if your city is hosting an event here.

This year’s Day of Action includes cities in the U.S., Canada, Ireland, Bolivia, South Africa, India and of course, South Korea. Let’s support the courageous South Korean activists who battle to free these dogs by raising our voices around the world on July 6!

Two wild caught eighteen-month-old baby elephants will be sent from Zimbabwe to North Korea, as part of a sale that includes a variety of wildlife, including pairs of giraffe, zebra, antelope, hyenas, monkeys and birds. News sources are also reporting that as many as five other countries, including Japan and Mozambique, are requesting similar purchases of wild animals from Zimbabwe.

According to experts, the elephant calves may be too young to endure the cruel trauma of capture, separation from their mothers, and the 7,000-mile trip to North Korea. If they do survive, they almost certainly will not be held in conditions that meet their physical and psychological needs, ensuring a lifetime of suffering and a premature death. Other wild animals involved in the transfer are not expected to fare any better, compounding this unnecessary tragedy.

Elephants’ profound social bonds make separation of calves from their mothers highly traumatic for the baby and remaining family members, causing enormous suffering. In the wild, elephant mothers fiercely protect their young, whom they nurse until they are four years old. Calves never stray far from their mothers, and they enjoy the nurturing attention of other females in the family who help care for and rear them. Female offspring remain with their mothers for life.

IDA is a signatory, along with conservation groups, elephant experts, animal protection groups and biologists around the world, in support of a letter sent by world-renowned elephant authority and ElephantVoices co-director Dr. Joyce Poole to Zimbabwean leaders. In it she states:

“We urge you not to underestimate the impact on world opinion of the distressing sounds and imagery of elephant calves and juveniles being forcibly separated from their families, captured and then undergoing inhumane taming and training methods, and a lifetime of captivity in a country that is not known for its adherence to international standards and norms. These practices are totally unacceptable for an enlightened public and continuation is bound to lead to public petitions, campaigns, and increased negative publicity for Zimbabwe.”

Please help stop Zimbabwe from transferring these elephant calves and other wildlife to North Korea by writing a polite letter to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, urging him to do the right thing and cancel the sale. Tell him that you strongly oppose the export of baby elephants and other wildlife from their natural habitats, and urge him to show that Zimbabwe truly cares about preserving and protecting its wildlife heritage by halting the sale. Respectfully let him know that the world is watching.

To contact Prime Minister Tsvangirai, please:

1. Go to the website www.zimbabweprimeminister.org

2. On the horizontal menu near the top of the page, click on “Contacts” at the far right.

3. Send an email to the Prime Minister.