South Korea's parliament has passed a groundbreaking law banning the dog meat industry. The National Assembly gave the green light with 208 votes in favor and no votes against. The text, which will come into force after the President's signature and other formalities, will make the slaughter, breeding, trafficking and sale of dog meat for human consumption illegal from 2027, and punish these acts with prison sentences of up to three years punish. There is no penalty for eating dog meat. Farmers and others in South Korea's dog meat industry have fought hard against efforts to ban its consumption. Recent surveys show that the majority of South Koreans no longer eat dog meat.
Eating dog meat, an ancient practice on the Korean peninsula, is neither explicitly banned nor legalized in South Korea. Recent polls show that more and more people want a ban and that the majority of South Koreans no longer eat dog meat. dog, but polls also show that one in three South Koreans still oppose the ban despite not eating dog meat. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol supports the government's ban, so the remaining steps to adopt the text are considered a formality.
“This law aims to contribute to the realization of the values of animal rights, which aim at respect for life and harmonious coexistence between humans and animals,” says the text adopted by Parliament. The law offers farmers and other industrial operators support in closing their operations or switching to alternatives. There is no reliable official data on the exact size of the dog meat industry in South Korea: According to activists and breeders, hundreds of thousands of dogs are slaughtered for meat in South Korea every year.