South Korea’s dog meat ban opposed by vendors, customers: ‘cows are living animals too’

When Choi Tae-yeon opened her restaurant 20 years ago, dog meat was a good business in South Korea. Now, she says she might have to close up shop

On Tuesday, lawmakers passed a bill essentially banning the controversial industry, prohibiting the breeding, selling and slaughtering of dogs for their meat

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A woman walks in front of a poster showing dog meat dishes in Daegu, South Korea. On Tuesday, the country’s parliament passed a bill banning breeding, slaughtering and selling dogs for their meat, a traditional practice that activists have called an embarrassment for the country. Photo: AFP

Published: 8:00am, 11 Jan 2024Updated: 7:50pm, 11 Jan 2024

When Choi Tae-yeon opened her restaurant 20 years ago, dog meat was a good business in South Korea. Now, she says she might have to close up shop, with a new ban on the former delicacy.

Nestled in an alleyway in the Chilseong market in the city of Daegu, her restaurant serves dishes traditionally believed in South Korea to be good for one’s stamina – mostly dog meat, either steamed or boiled in broth.

Once commonplace in Korean cuisine, with up to a million dogs killed for the trade every year, according to activists, dog meat has seen a sharp fall in popularity over the last few years, as young South Koreans turn to canines for companionship not consumption.

“Things have changed drastically,” Choi said at her restaurant on Wednesday.

“In the past, when the business was good, vendors used to sell as many as 30, 40 dogs a day,” she said. “Now, we sell one to two dogs on average.”

Eating dog meat is effectively taboo among younger, urban South Koreans, and pressure on the government to outlaw the practice from animal rights activists has been mounting.

On Tuesday, lawmakers passed a bill essentially banning the long controversial industry, prohibiting the breeding, selling and slaughtering of dogs for their meat.