Humane Society International buying out dog farms in Korea

[Catherine]

Humane Society International has found a way to rescue dogs from the dog eating festival. They are buying out the dog farms and shipping the dogs to the USA where they become family pets.  They are encouraging the farmers to grow other crops.


http://news.google.ca/news/url?sr=1&ct2=...t=2&at=dt0


They have already shut down five farms. It is encouraging. Eating dog meat is becoming less popular and less farmers want to raise dogs.

Who know, maybe this years dog eating festival will fail and the dogs will live.  I think the country is aware of the 2018 Olympics and world opinion. We may see some positive changes.

[Tobi]

This is fantastic news! I really hope this plan continues and succeeds!
Also, let's hope some gangsters don't get in on the act, and take advantage....then spring up somewhere else...
I hope the new ideas for profitable farming will help.

I have been thinking of those so called festivals recently, and how it isn't long until YuLin starts again....
I am very very glad to hear this news, and will do some more reading up about that.

Hopefully dog farming will be phased out. Dog meat consumption isn't even an old tradition, as far as I know, but quite a modern one!

[Catherine]

It sounds like the younger generations are not interested in eating dog meat. If it isn't  a really old tradition then it could be gone in a generation. If public feeling is turning against eating dog meat then the farmers are going to be glad to find other ways to run their farms. I wouldn't think it is a satisfying "crop" to raise.

I think they have chosen the right way to break the cycle. Stop the farmers and there will be few dogs for market.

I think public pressure against dog meat is having good results.

Maybe this festival will be the last.

Look at Gadhimai. We didn't expect such good results so soon.

[Tobi]

Hopefully, the crops the farmers decide to grow instead will be profitable.....and hopefully not poppies (?)
There is a lot of money tied up with the dog meat eating. I hope an alternative can be found to work. That is important. It has to be a high value crop.

[Catherine]

If the shift is away from eating dog meat then growing a variety of crops will be more profitable in the long term.
A well managed farm could be profitable and it would not be a cause for shame or guilt. Surely the farmers fell some sense of discomfort  about raising dogs like that. They know they are going to be killed terribly. It has to bother them on some level.

I understand that protestors have an impact on people. People who raise dogs for food are aware of the message of the protestors. I think it bothers them. That is why they are willing to sell and stop raising dogs.

The more dogs they buy and farms they close the better. It moves Korea away from the tradition of dog eating.

[Catslave.]

I hope it succeeds 100% totally against eating dog meat but it's barbaric the way they treat their animals over there.

[Catherine]

It is not just that they eat dogs. It is how horribly they treat the dogs and how brutal the killing methods are.

I think we are seeing signs of change. I am hoping people will see that "tradition" is not a valid reason for cruelty.
I don't care how long something has been done. If it is horrible and wrong then there is no good reason to continue it.
This is the 21st century. We need to act like it is the 21st century.