This is Ban Tang a Korean soup especially popular on very hot days but pretty soon it’s going to be off the menu in South Korea because the main ingredient is dog meat and the South Korean government is Banning it under the law people who Farm Butcher and sell
Dogs to eat will face up to 3 years in prison why now this new bill won’t make it illegal to eat dog meat but it will ban breeding butchering Distributing and selling dogs for meat in 2022 a government report figured every year more than half a
Million dogs are raised in some 1100 dog meat farms across the country they also estimate there are around 1,600 restaurants still making and selling dog based dishes in South Korea now let’s tackle this head on eating dog has a long complicated history in South Korea that historians believe goes back
Hundreds if not thousands of years in part because of things like this cookbook that was originally written in the 1800s and includes a recipe for buen Tang that soup we mentioned some say it dates back to a time when South Korea had food shortages when there was a need
For a protein Source but experts also agree that dog meat has never really been a key part of the Korean diet and people eat a lot less of it these days according to a 2022 Gallop poll only 8% of South Koreans said they had tried dog
Meat in the past 12 months down from 27% in 2015 and less than a fifth of people in that poll said they had a favorable view of eating dog meat the vast majority saw it as a negative thing there are now 6 million dogs that are companion animals in South Korea so
People live with these animals and develop a bond with with the animals uh with the dogs and they are actually seeing the connection between the animal that is in the cage and and served as food and the animal that is sitting next to them at home dogs are like family now
And it’s not nice to eat our family but here’s the thing while consumption and support for dog meat farming is at an all-time low in South Korea those who want it can still get it this Alleyway is one of the few places you can still
Come to eat dog meat and so and we’re still talking about a largely unregulated industry often an international Target South Korea was a had a special place in the dog meat trade because it was the only country that was Raising dogs for meat in some countries where
People eat dog they often catch stray dogs but activists say in South Korea it’s more like factory farming the animals are crammed into cages there is uh in in unsanitary conditions uh they receive no care no Veterinary Care uh almost no food and and and clean water South Korea’s animal protection act does
Explicitly prohibit animal suffering in the dog meat trade but activists have long argued that law is ignored either way this is not a flattering image for any country especially one whose Global influence is on the rise it seems almost every time South Korea makes its way into the international
Public Consciousness dog meat is right there with it in the leadup to the 1988 Summer Olympics in Soul activists asked athletes to get involved in 2001 around the FIFA World Cup also in South Korea there was lots of international media attention like many farms this one has
Dogs but these aren’t Farm dogs they’re farmed dogs it’s just incredible cruelties is going on and in 2018 the same year South Korea was set to host another round of Olympic Games the animal Weare Institute put out a scathing report arguing dogs raised for food commonly endure a lifetime of abuse
And often are slaughtered in a manner that is nightmarish in its brutality this is especially true in South Korea it got so bad that volunteers from Canada and the United States started traveling across the world flying thousands of kilometers to these Farms to try and shut them down and get the
Dogs out and now here we are there’s been definite movement over the years on the government’s part to put an end to this industry and this most recent development the allout ban is South Korea’s last big push we are global just uh so happy we’ve witnessed what is
Happening on these farms and uh just knowing that there’s there is an an end uh to it in the near future is just uh is just personally very uh rewarding now there’s a Runway here the band takes effect in 3 years from now so the industry has time to phase it out you
Know think of all the farmers The Producers the restaurants who will have to adjust in a pretty big way but once the law does kick in violating it could mean 2 to three years in prison and fines of up to 30 million South Korean W which is about $30,000 Canadian the
Government is offering compensation packages to help businesses transition out of the industry but many farmers are not happy at all there have been in some cases violent protests and there are promises for more protests and legal challenges a
South Korea’s parliament has passed a law to ban dog meat production and sale. Yet, the practice of consuming dog meat in South Korea has become considerably less popular in recent years. Andrew Chang breaks down the ban and how changing attitudes and worries about the country’s international image may have played into the timing.
»»» Subscribe to CBC News to watch more videos:
Connect with CBC News Online:
For breaking news, video, audio and in-depth coverage:
Follow CBC News on TikTok:
Follow CBC News on Twitter:
Find CBC News on Facebook:
Follow CBC News on Instagram:
Subscribe to CBC News on Snapchat:
Download the CBC News app for iOS:
Download the CBC News app for Android:
»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»
For more than 80 years, CBC News has been the source Canadians turn to, to keep them informed about their communities, their country and their world. Through regional and national programming on multiple platforms, including CBC Television, CBC News Network, CBC Radio, CBCNews.ca, mobile and on-demand, CBC News and its internationally recognized team of award-winning journalists deliver the breaking stories, the issues, the analyses and the personalities that matter to Canadians.
