The Dog-Meat Trade in Korea, the Taxi Man and His Pupper and Empathy for Life
Photo of our dog Markus, who was rescued from Empathy for Life shelter
In our development with Markus, we’re constantly pushing for the next thing. We’re always trying new things to train and work with him - so much so that when something doesn’t go the way we expect it to, we can become discouraged or even frustrated.
Taking the time to reflect where things began helps us to appreciate where we are today and it gives us the boost for another day. Putting in perspective that Markus was a rescued dog who had difficulty being adopted because he was labeled as aggressive helps us to appreciate how far he’s come in his time with us.
The Paws & Reflect series is our way of pausing to appreciate all the progress Markus has made from his days as an aggressive dog at the rescue shelter. We revisit his past to help us put into focus all the great things he’s already accomplished with us.
Warning: We will not be using any graphic images, but we will be discussing the issue of dogs being farmed for consumption in Korea.
Cultures take on different forms depending on the country or region that it exists in. A lot of cultural practices are similar and shared among countries, but there are also ones that are unique to specific countries that are hard for us to understand. For these practices, where is the line drawn between what's accepted because it's a cultural practice and what isn't?
While we were doing research to rescue a dog, we discovered one of these practices that, as people from North America, was hard for us to fathom. Today, I wanted to write about this heavier topic about the practices we discovered and the Dog-Meat Trade in Korea - not for its shock value, but because it played a big role in us deciding where we were going to adopt.
When we were adopting our dog, we had choices for where to adopt. To help us with this decision, we researched countries in Asia and their dog situation locally. In the end, we decided to adopt from Korea and the following are a few things we learned.
The Dog-Meat Trade
In preparation for a bit of heaviness, let's start with some positive news first. Since 2015, Humane Society International (HSI) has been working to shut down dog-meat farms in South Korea. They've been visiting these farms in person to meet with farmers and talk them into ceasing operations for their farms. Their compensation is a monetary amount for the dogs that are already there and to help them transition into another viable business, the farmers are taught how to grow fruits and vegetables like peppers, mushrooms or blueberries instead.
HSI has a goal to shut down all of the dog-meat farms in South Korea and this method has been successful so far. With the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang fast approaching, it seems that South Korea is considering the dog-meat trade and what it does to their image internationally.
The practice of farming and eating dog meat stems back to a time when the nation was destitute and food was scarce. Out of desperation, people in Korea turned to dogs as their source of meat. It was during this period that dishes that included dog meat became popular and some of these culinary traditions carry on today with the older generation. With the younger population and with a wealthier Korea, this practice is quickly diminishing, but there is still an estimated 17,000 farms - some of them with over a thousand animals - that collectively supply over 2 million dogs to be eaten each year.
South Korea is the only country in Asia where dogs are farmed for human consumption. In those desperate times, these practices became popular and dogs were farmed to meet the demands. No breed is safe, as every breed is exploited to be eaten.
The result of these demands is that the dogs end up in overcrowded cages with very little space to move around and minimal light or ventilation. They're forced to relieve themselves where they eat and sleep with other dogs. Some documented stories have described these farms to be more like dungeons. The dogs would be fed scraps of food until they're big enough or ready to be sold as meat.
When the dogs are big enough, they're transported to the markets in trucks with cages attached to the back. You can find pictures online of these trucks with cages in the back to see how the dogs are stuffed inside. Pets that were deserted and placed on the streets were often picked up and brought to these markets as well.
At the markets, it is said that the dogs are de-haired and then either beaten, hanged or electrocuted to death. Their remains are sold to be consumed.
In Korea, dogs weren't traditionally recognized as house pets or companion dogs. They were often raised to be sold or given to the meat industry, but those times are now changing. Meat is no longer scarce in Korea and the population doesn't seek it as much as they used to. Attitudes toward dogs have changed and keeping dogs as pets have become more common now.
As dog owners passionate about dogs, we love seeing the work that HSI is doing and we hope that it continues so that dog farms and the dog-meat trade in Korea can come to an end.
The Taxi Man and His Pupper
We recently came across a Korean Jindo named Dae-Bock who was up for adoption on a rescue shelter's website. We felt Dae-Bock's story shows a glimpse of what the dog culture can be like in Korea and wanted to share it with you here.
Dae-Bock had lived in a home with his owner who was a taxi driver in Korea. Growing up, he was raised well - he ate healthy foods, was cleaned regularly, got the exercise that he needed, etc. Dae-Bock was living the life. What he didn't know was that his owner was raising him solely for his personal consumption.
Dae-Bock's owner previously had cancer and had undergone surgery successfully and was in remission. He had bought Dae-Bock as a puppy with the intention of raising him for his personal consumption as a celebration to his successful procedure.
So how did Dae-Bock wind up in a rescue shelter? Story has it that the owner was dragging Dae-Bock along one of the largest dog-meat markets, which was being shut down earlier than scheduled. The owner was looking for a restaurant that was both a butcher and could also serve a meal to him at the same site. Since the first location was closed, he was dragging Dae-Bock to find another restaurant where he ran into a team from the Korean Animal Welfare Association (KAWA).
The taxi driver and KAWA supposedly talked for hours before they finally convinced him to surrender Dae-Bock to the rescue. He's since been put up for adoption at the Flying Jindo (in Vancouver), has been adopted and is now living in North America.
Empathy for Life Rescue Organization
Empathy for Life (EFL) in Korea is the rescue organization that took Markus in where we were eventually able to adopt him. We will be forever grateful to them for that.
EFL's mission is not unlike HSI's - as part of HSI's transition, they take the rescued dogs from the farms that are shut down and fly them over to the United States where they can be adopted into North American homes. EFL rescues dogs in need, whether they're from dog farms or on the streets, and put them up for adoption both locally and overseas. We came across EFL's page online from Vancouver and were able to get Markus sent over to Seattle at SEATAC where we picked him up.
Empathy for Life was great with getting all the necessary vaccinations and paperwork for Markus to prepare him for life in the United States and Canada. For us, it couldn't have been more seamless - we just showed up at the airport on the date and time they arranged and he arrived in a crate and we drove home with him that same day.
If you're looking to adopt and sympathize with the dogs in Korea, we highly recommend looking at Empathy for Life! If you're local, they are also in need of volunteers.
So did Markus come from a dog farm?
We're not sure. A downside of rescuing a dog is that we sometimes never get the backstory of the dogs we're saving. When we rescued Markus, he was nearly 3 years old and had been in EFL for over a year. Markus was brought to EFL from the city pound, but no one knows his history prior to that. We try to look for telltale signs and from his behaviour (not fearful of people or showing signs of trauma), we like to believe that he didn't come from a dog farm, but this isn't something we can confirm.
Regardless of where he's been, Markus is now with us and has a place he can call home.
Every dog has a story that's waiting to be told. Do you have a story you’d love to share about a rescued dog? We'd love to hear it!
Sources
We’re so grateful for your support of The Markus Project. We mostly choose our locations through searching and word of mouth. If you know of a park, trail or location you think we should check out, please share it with us. We’d love to know!