Petition: https://chng.it/6BBNXSc9

Loudoun County, Virginia, Tell Sister City, Goyang, South Korea, that you oppose the torture and consumption of dogs and cats.

Loudoun County has become Sister City with Goyang, South Korea.  This relationship was undoubtedly formed in the spirit of friendship and for your mutual benefit, business links, trade, etc.  And while Loudoun County would have expected to learn about the differences in cultural practices of the Goyang citizens, we feel confident that your city would have hesitated to form such a Sister City relationship had your county known about the aberrant and cruel practices routinely carried out in the dog and cat meat trades in Goyang and all over South Korea.  Lucrative but illegal trades carry on unchallenged: with no enforcement of the laws and no punishment for those violating them.

South Korea is the home to global companies, such as Hyundai, Kia, Samsung, LG, Daewoo, SK, and POSCO, which is why it is so shocking that an estimated 2.5 million dogs are tortured and slaughtered every year within South Korea, because of the greed of dog eaters and the dog meat industry; while the majority of those Koreans, who don’t participate in this offensive trade, show a profound indifference by doing nothing at all to stop it.

We know how loyal and faithful our dogs across the world are. We all ask a lot of them - they serve us in innumerable ways: farm work, war work, police, and guard duties, search and rescue, help for the disabled, guidance and guardianship, and, of course, as our loving and trusting companions.

Dogs were first domesticated thousands of years ago, and so much do they want to be part of our ‘human’ family that they have learned to understand our gestures and language - the language of another species- showing remarkable willingness and intelligence.

But scattered throughout Goyang are countless dog farms and slaughterhouses  - each one an actual ‘hell on earth for these defenseless creatures, and where man’s ‘best friends’ live their entire lives in filthy, feces-encrusted, raised wire cages, in utter misery - only to end up being slaughtered in the most horrific ways imaginable: by electrocution, a hammer blow to the neck, being hung or beaten, bleeding to death from a slashed throat, being burned to death with a blowtorch, or being thrown into a vat of boiling water often while still alive. 

Hell - have you ever wondered what it is like?  The below video shows ‘hell on earth’: a dog farm and slaughterhouse in Goyang where this daily horror is carried out.  Please watch it, as words alone cannot describe this ‘hell on earth; sadly, there are so many dog restaurants, slaughterhouses, farms, and meat markets like this throughout Goyang.  

https://youtu.be/OjKuD8y6p-I

South Korea does have laws against selling dogs and cats for consumption, yet these laws are blatantly ignored. 

Please watch this undercover video by animal rights activists in South Korea: Shocking Cruelty of South Korea’s Dog Meat Industry, Part 1 of 2: https://youtu.be/_ZVQjgGb4RQ

Part 2 of 2: https://vimeo.com/745517132

Please will you inform Goyang Mayor Lee Dong-hwan that citizens of Loudoun County and their friends insist that South Korea issues an official document mandating the enforcement of the following existing laws: 

The unauthorized processing of food waste fed to dogs in the meat trade violates the Wastes Control Act, Article 15-2, Article 25, Section 3.  Suppliers of food waste and transporters of food waste to dog meat farms are violating this regulation.

Food waste fed to dogs in the dog meat trade violates the Control of Livestock and Fish Feed Act, Article 14, Section 1 & 2.  The unauthorized collection of food waste and the act of feeding it to dogs in the meat trade violates this regulation.

Excrement and resulting environmental damage produced as a by-product of the illegal dog meat farm violates the Act on the Management and Use of Livestock Excreta Article 11.  The excrement produced at dog meat farms causes environmental damage to the immediate and surrounding area.

The act of slaughtering dogs for human consumption violates the Animal Protection Act Article 8, Section 1, Clause 4. The act of slaughtering a dog without a justifiable ground – such as out of necessity for veterinary treatment or in circumstances of immediate threat, harm, or damage to human life or property, is a violation.

The slaughter of dogs by electrocution violates Animal Protection Act, Article 8, Section 1, Clause 1.  Inflicting injury or death to any animal by the following means: battery by tools, exposure to drugs, exposure to extreme heat or fire, electrocution, and drowning is subject to legal punishment. Therefore, the routine slaughter of dogs by butchers and farmers by these methods violates the Act. Further, electrocution as a method of slaughter is internationally recognized as an inherently cruel method of slaughter and banned globally.

Slaughter of dogs from an unauthorized slaughterhouse violates Livestock Products Sanitary Control Act, Article7 Section 1.  The Livestock Products Sanitary Control Act states that dogs are officially recognized and classified as “animals” that are “prohibited from being slaughtered and distributed as food for human consumption.” Therefore, those vendors operating dog slaughterhouses are operating outside of the parameters of the law and in violation of the law.

Slaughter of dogs for their consumption violates Animal Protection Act, Article 10.  The Act intends to ensure that no animal is slaughtered in a cruel or revolting manner, and shall be free from unnecessary pain, fear, or stress during the slaughter process. Therefore, the only humane way of slaughtering dogs would be by euthanasia (lethal injection). All currently practiced methods of slaughter by butchers, farmers, and traders exclude euthanasia as a method of slaughter. Therefore they are all in breach of this Act.  This is also a violation of LIVESTOCK PRODUCTS SANITARY CONTROL ACT Article7 Section 1 Clause 2.  According to the Livestock Products Sanitary Control Act, the slaughter of animals for their consumption is allowed only for the livestock animals that are publically announced as classification of livestock in the Livestock Products Sanitary Control Act and dogs are not classified here.

Display and selling dog carcasses in traditional outdoor markets violate the Food Sanitation Act, Article 4, 5.  Violation of laws banning the sale of harmful food due to the contamination from the unsanitary and illegal slaughter of the animal and display of the dog carcass. For example, dog carcasses are routinely contaminated by microorganisms that cause human diseases and food poisoning, leading to severe and life-threatening health complications.  There are also strict laws that ban the sale of meat from sick animals; due to the lack of quality control or proper monitoring of slaughter practices in the dog meat trade, it is very likely that violation of these laws is happening routinely.

Dog meat restaurants’ sale of dog meat soup made with dog carcasses from an unknown source violates Food Sanitation Act Article 44 Section 1 Clause 1. Uninspected livestock products must not be transported, stored, displayed, sold, or used for manufacturing or processing food for human consumption.

Please refer to the legal information regarding dog meat consumption in South Korea published by KARA (Korea Animal Rights Advocates):  http://koreandogs.org/kara-publishes-legal-information-booklet-ending-dog-meat-consumption/.

We believe these demands align with the goal of Sister cities to establish friendly communications in the areas of tourism, commerce, cultural exchange, and public health.

International media coverage of the brutal dog and cat meat trade in South Korea has stained Goyang, South Korea’s image, and severely tarnished your city’s sister city relationship. The time to end this tragedy is now.  The favor of your reply is requested. 

Thank you for taking swift action!

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Click for more action you can take: http://koreandogs.org/sister-city-campaign-goyang-south-korea-loudoun-county-virginia/.