Find more ways to help: https://koreandogs.org/a-plea-for-compassion-gyeongsangbuk-ohio/

A Plea for Compassion: Protect Chained Dogs from Burning Alive in South Korean Wildfires (Sister Province: Gyeongsangbuk Province & Ohio)

Despite the revised Animal Protection Act of 2023, South Korea continues to allow the cruel practice of lifelong tethering, often with chains far shorter than the supposed two-meter minimum. Weak enforcement leaves countless “rural dogs” to suffer in filth, neglect, and isolation, treated as mere property.

Tragically, this systemic neglect results in horrific deaths during disasters like the recent wildfires. Helpless dogs, chained and caged, are left to burn alive as their owners evacuate, abandoning their loyal companions to unimaginable agony. This is not mere indifference; it is a callous betrayal that stains South Korea’s conscience.

The revised law, with its inadequate leash length and poor enforcement, fails to protect these animals. Lifelong tethering must be banned outright.

We demand immediate action:

• Enact and strictly enforce a complete ban on lifelong tethering.

• Drastically strengthen enforcement of animal welfare laws with severe penalties for neglect.

• Mandatory disaster evacuation protocols must unequivocally require the evacuation of all dogs alongside their human guardians, forbidding any dog from being left tethered or confined during evacuations.

We urge Sister Cities of South Korea to take a stand against this cruelty. Their partnerships cannot ignore the horrific reality of dogs chained and left to burn alive. We ask them to contact their counterparts in South Korea and demand meaningful laws to protect dogs, including a ban on tethering and mandatory pet evacuation during emergencies.

The world is watching. South Korea must move beyond ineffective minimum standards and implement real change to end this unimaginable suffering. Demand action now.

PETITION: 

URGENT GLOBAL OUTCRY: END CRUEL LIFELONG TETHERING AND THE HORRIFIC, REPEATED DEATHS OF DOGS IN YOUR SISTER PROVINCE OF GYEONGSANGBUK DURING WILDFIRES

Dear Governor Ralph DeWine and Esteemed Representatives of Ohio,

We, a global community united in profound concern for animal welfare, write with outrage and urgency regarding the unspeakable cruelty of lifelong tethering of dogs in your Sister Province of Gyeongsangbuk, South Korea, and its catastrophic consequences during wildfires. We value the Sister Province relationship and urge your immediate, principled action on this international animal welfare crisis.

The barbaric practice of lifelong tethering—often on short chains, causing chronic neglect and suffering—renders countless sentient beings defenseless during natural disasters. Tragically, repeated wildfires in South Korea have led to horrific, preventable deaths of tethered dogs who are unable to escape. This reflects a deeply disturbing lack of compassion within segments of the Korean community toward these loyal animals’ agonizing plight.

Witness this brutal reality (Warning: Disturbing images of animal suffering in the following videos):

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/7vZE_P_wGho
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/sbUi7K9mPTU
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/sStj0hH6MyM
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/A8OskdtJvjg
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/BfEbt6s79sE
https://youtu.be/MunZMwl6BmQ
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/hRocjMfllqM
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/hotkDKh8Ii8
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/SJ-bYNdeS6I
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/CeTa4VRG6pk
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/9Bway6u5sb4
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/cDWUTYsVQHQ
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/_LjaYeZkrQU
https://koreandogs.org/uljin-fire/
https://koreandogs.org/gangwondo-fire/
https://koreandogs.org/danbi/
https://koreandogs.org/chungju-fire/

These loyal creatures are deliberately left chained during evacuations, condemned to burn alive. This recurring horror, fueled by inadequate laws, insufficient emergency preparedness, and a shocking disregard for their suffering, demands immediate and forceful international condemnation.

As leaders of a Sister State to Gyeongsangbuk Province, you have a powerful platform for ethical advocacy. We implore you to recognize the moral imperative of ending this cruelty and preventing further animal suffering. Decisive action on the international level is crucial.

Therefore, we urgently request that you:

1. STRONGLY CONDEMN lifelong tethering and the repeated, devastating immolation of dogs in your Sister Province due to wildfires, directly addressing the lack of compassion that allows this to persist.

2. IMMEDIATELY REACH OUT to your counterparts in Gyeongsangbuk Province to express profound global outrage and condemnation for this ongoing cruelty. Emphasize that the continued failure to ban tethering and protect animals during wildfires risks South Korea’s international reputation, highlighting a disturbing absence of empathy.

3. STRONGLY URGE the leadership of Gyeongsangbuk Province to take swift, decisive action by engaging with the national government to implement CRITICAL animal protection measures:

IMMEDIATE AND STRICTLY ENFORCED BAN on lifelong tethering.
IMMEDIATE ADOPTION AND ENFORCEMENT of mandatory evacuation protocols, ensuring the inclusion of all companion animals.
SUBSTANTIAL INVESTMENT in public awareness campaigns to promote responsible pet ownership and the importance of untethering animals during emergencies.
SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED PENALTIES for neglect and abandonment, particularly during disasters, to send a clear message that such disregard for animals negatively impacts South Korea’s global reputation.
4. OFFER YOUR STATE’S EXPERTISE AND RESOURCES in establishing robust animal welfare standards (including a tethering ban) and comprehensive emergency preparedness to assist Gyeongsangbuk Province in preventing these recurring tragedies.

The ongoing cruelty of lifelong tethering and the repeated, horrific deaths of countless dogs in South Korean wildfires are an unconscionable stain born from a shocking absence of empathy. As a Sister State, you hold a profound moral obligation to utilize your international relationship to passionately champion these sentient beings’ fundamental right to live free from chains and the terror of a cruel death. We request decisive and immediate action on the global stage to end this tragic cycle. An online petition urging your support to stop these horrors in Gyeongsangbuk Province is in progress: https://chng.it/k6SZsxkGGS We implore you to give this critical matter your urgent and unwavering attention, demonstrating your commitment to animal welfare within your sphere of influence and beyond.

Sincerely,

The Global Animal Welfare Community

 

 

Photo: Heartlessly abandoned by their owners, one dog was burned alive, tethered and helpless, while another one suffered severe burns witnessing the horrific death. 

 

Video: The South Korean wildfires of March 2025 killed at least 31, destroyed much property, and resulted in the horrific abandonment and death of numerous caged dogs, underscoring a moral failing and inspiring rescue efforts like CARE's aid to surviving dogs from a torched dog farm.

 

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Click HERE for more actions you can take.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine: Tell your Sister State, Gyeongsangbuk Province, South Korea, that you are opposed to the torture and consumption of dogs and cats.

Gyeongsangbuk Province, South Korea, became a sister state with Ohio in 1984.

These relationships were undoubtedly formed in the spirit of friendship and for your mutual benefit, business links, and trade, etc. And, while your state would have expected to learn about the differences in cultural practices of the Gyeongsangbuk Province citizens, we feel sure that your state would have hesitated to form such a Sister State relationship had your state known about the aberrant and cruel practices routinely carried out in the dog and cat meat industries in Gyeongsangbuk Province and allover South Korea. Lucrative but illegal trades which 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, guiding and guardianship, and, of course, as our loving and trusting companions.

Dogs were first domesticated many 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, which shows remarkable willingness and intelligence.

Gyeongsangbuk Province is one of the largest dog meat suppliers and consumption provinces in South Korea. There are hundreds of dog farms, dog slaughterhouses, dog meat restaurants, and so-called “Health Centers” serving soup made of dog meat as an elixir. Dogs suffer their entire lives in filthy, feces encrusted raised wire cages in utter misery only to be slaughtered in the most horrific of ways. They are killed by electrocution, hammer strikes to their head and necks, being hung, being beaten to death, having their throats slit, being burned alive with a blowtorch, or thrown into a vat of boiling water while still alive. In many places in Gyeongsangbuk Province, dogs are killed in full view of other terrified, caged dogs who tremble with terror. In addition, people’s beloved pets are often stolen and sold to these businesses, where they meet the same horrific fate. Dogs and puppies who died of diseases are tossed away like garbage, often left in front of cages to rot while the mother dogs watch and cry out in despair for their dead babies.

We ask you to please watch the undercover videos from South Korea’s dog meat industry:

Part 1 of 2: https://youtu.be/_ZVQjgGb4RQ

Part 2 of 2: https://youtu.be/ivHffcM5B6w

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

We believe that there must surely be some social responsibility for the representatives of one state to take a stand against any wrongdoing being sanctioned or ignored by their Sister state. As such, we ask you to please urge Governor Lee Cheol-Woo to take action and to state that your state and its citizens demand that Gyeongsangbuk Province issue an official document mandating that the following existing Korean laws enforced by its government officials, police, and judges:

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 violate 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 the 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.

The slaughter of dogs from an unauthorized slaughterhouse violates Livestock Products Sanitary Control Act, Article 7 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.

The slaughter of dogs for their own consumption violates the 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 process of slaughter. Therefore, the only humane way of slaughtering dogs would be by euthanasia (lethal injection). All currently practiced slaughter methods 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 the Livestock Products Sanitary Control Act Article 7 Section 1 Clause 2. According to the Livestock Products Sanitary Control Act, the slaughter of animals for their own consumption is allowed only for the livestock animals that are publicly announced as classification of livestock in the Livestock Products Sanitary Control Act and dogs are not classified here.

The display and sale of 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. Because there is no quality control or proper monitoring of slaughter practices in the dog meat trade, likely, these laws are routinely violated.

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

Please refer to the legal information regarding dog meat consumption in South Korea published by the Korea Animal Rights Advocates (KARA): https://www.ekara.org/activity/against/read/7537​ https://koreandogs.org/kara-publishes-legal-information-booklet-ending-dog-meat-consumption/.

The United States House of Representatives has formally passed H.Res. 401, "Calls for an end to the dog and cat meat industry and urges all nations to outlaw the dog and cat meat trade." (https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-resolution/401)

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

International and Korean media coverage of the brutal dog and cat meat trade in South Korea has stained Gyeongsangbuk Province, South Korea's image, and severely tarnished your state's Sister-State relationship. The time to end this tragedy is now. The favor of your reply is requested.

Thank you for taking swift action!