Shadow Companions Australia

To date, the exact number of dogs and cats tortured and slaughtered for meat in South Korea is not known, though the number is estimated to be in the high millions with the annual slaughter rate standing at around 2-3 million.

The dog meat industry is a billion dollar a year industry in South Korea. Meat markets are in operation all over the country and what goes on in those markets is a veritable bloodbath. Butchers use violent and torturous methods to prepare dogs for slaughter. Why? Butchers want to evoke a reaction of extreme fear from the animal so that a substance called adrenalin is released into the bloodstream, believed by many Koreans to produce a meat that can act as a powerful sexual stimulant and a cure for the summer heat. The traditional dog meat dish, "boshintang" is served in over 6000 dog meat restaurants around the country.

Dogs...

Like something akin to a serial killer, butchers hang fully conscious dogs by the neck with ropes or wires in trees then proceed to violently beat them with rods or pipes, sometimes for up to half an hour. They lower them to the ground with the dogs still screaming and whimpering in pain and take a blowtorch to the dogs to burn of their fur. Dogs are boiled alive and fully conscious, they are often skinned, their tongues removed and

ripped to pieces while they are in a semi-conscious state suffering from shock. Dogs are kept crammed in cages in the sweltering sun with no access to food and water. They are crammed into the cages so tight they are often crushed to death. They are dragged from cages to be hammered on the top of the head into a semi-conscious state and then electrocuted. Dogs trying to escape boiling water are casually pushed back in by butchers who hear the dogs screaming and see their pain but feel nothing for them.

Cats...

Cats are subjected to terrifying acts of violence. They are shoved into sacks and beaten against the ground until they are dead. They are placed, alive and fully conscious into pressure cookers to be slowly boiled to death to make "cat juice", a tonic believed to alleviate arthritis. Cats are piled on top of each other in cages, dead cats on top of live cats, kittens crammed into tiny cages with their dead mothers. And all of this occurs while the animals watch and wait in line for their turn to be tortured and while potential consumers "shop" for a dog to have tortured, slaughtered and packaged for dinner..

All of this is true, it is fact not fiction as some dog meat advocates and the Korean Government would have people believe. Evidence has been collected in the form of photographs and video by animal welfare organisations and individuals who have witnessed the terrifying slaughter. The markets are places of terror and death, they are full of screaming, moaning crying animals, blood fills the markets and the stench of death permeates the air. They truly are a Hell on Earth, yet nothing is being done to stop them. The butchers are evil, what other word could beused to describe a person who would beat, boil and skin an animal alive? These are some of the darkest places on the Planet and only the most heinous individual would allow them to exist and defend or support them.

Korea...

The Korean Government continues to ignore this issue, and has made little or no attempt to stop this barbarism. A vague Law was passed following the 1988 Seoul Olympics due to an outcry from the International community over dogs and cats being slaughtered and consumed by Koreans It would seem though that this Law was only passed to pacify the International community and attempt to improve Koreas image. The 1991 Animal Protection Law prohibits cruelty against animals and the human consumption of dogs and cats yet the Korean Government refuses to enforce or even to acknowledge the existence of this legislation.

Korean dog meat advocates have asserted they believe there is a difference between dogs raised for meat and dogs kept as pets. This is absolutely absurd, the dogs are the same species, they all feel the same pain. Pet dogs abandoned, lost, neglected or stolen often end up in meat markets, some even still wearing their collars. Many Korean 0fficials have denied the fact that Koreans slaughter cats or drink their juice, yet others have stated it is true. Lies from Government Officials in Korea are so prevalent, they are confusing themselves.

Many Koreans also use the culture excuse, asserting that dog meat is a part of Korean culture. Though this is in some dispute, what is not in dispute, is that a culture which includes this kind of depravity has no place in a civilised world. The dietary habits of one's ancestors is not part of ones "culture" and culture is NOT and NEVER will be an excuse to inflict pain and torture upon a living being. Read more here...

The butchers who committ these acts of barbarism do this with cold hearts and blank stares. Though it is impossible for decent people to comprehend, these butchers simply do not care that these animals are in pain, they are calculating, cold, violent, evil individuals whose very existence is an offense to humanity.

We cannot and must not allow this to continue. Simply because you cannot hear the animals screaming or see their pain does not mean it isn't occuring. The World Cup Football/Soccer Competition is being held this year in South Korea, this is our chance to bring attention to this issue. We believe a boycott of this event could be an effective protest against the slaughter. We believe also that compassionate Koreans who want the slaughter to stop will support the boycott. We encourage people not living in Korea to boycott Korean products and services. Click here for a list...please help save dogs and cats from anymore suffering...