“SEOUL (AFP) – The Seoul city government is seeking to classify man’s best friend as livestock in order to set food safety standards for South Korean lovers of dogmeat, officials say.
“Somewhere between two and four million dogs are estimated to be consumed in South Korea every year but the slaughtering and processing is carried out in dirty environments and poses a risks (sic) to diners’ health, they said.
“Since dogs are not currently classified as livestock there are no hygiene regulations on their slaughter, officials said.”
I remember a buddy and I coming up on what looked like a dog ranch while bicycling in the Korean countryside. It was a strange situation and we just moved on. Was it a kennel or a ranch? I don’t know. Some of the foreigners over there seemed to worry that they would accidentally wind up eating dog. As I understood it, “Kaegogi” (dogmeat), is more of a delicacy and more expensive. Based on that I figured I never really ate any. I guess if I did eat it, it tasted like beef. Before this item I hadn’t realized it was such a polarizing issue for Koreans.
Anger as Seoul Aims to Reclassify Dogmeat
Photo Credit: Isle of Dogs by p_a_h via Flickr
