Korean Job Discussion Forums

[DanseurVertical]

My old neighborhood in Seoul was an upper middle class area near the river. I only lived there for a few months, but during that time I noticed some posts announcing a lost dog with 500,000 or more reward. Yes, the people probably have enough spare money that they're willing to pay that much for safe retrieval of their lost dog.

But it made me wonder, what do they think may happen to their dog? In the same area, late at night and in places people rarely go, I've noticed a small pack of stray dogs. Admittedly, I had no food to give them, but they seemed very avoidant.

I have also lived in Taipei, where there are (far too) many stray dogs. However, stray dogs and humans in Taipei get along well. I don't think that adopting a stray is common there, but interacting with them and giving them some food is common.

There are some problems with the situation in Taipei, but why is it so dramatically different from in Korea? The climate here explains a little, but what about dogs that get lost in spring / summer?

I'm seriously wondering whether stray dogs - former family pets - commonly get eaten in Seoul, and whether ordinary Koreans care about this. Do not make this into an ethical debate! I'm just wondering about best recorded facts.

[optik404]

The dogs that Koreans eat are a certain breed. They are bred for consumption. Most Koreans prefer the small yappy dogs for pets. So, if they were to lose a pet, I doubt anyone is scooping them up and eating them.

[le-paul]

they get taken to a shelter and then killed after a time

[DanseurVertical]

[littlelisa]

There was a Korean news program or TV show that did some research and that some of the strays are eaten. A lot of times people think there's only one breed for eating, and mostly that's true, but a lot of places sell smaller dogs (for food). At the time people were upset about it, but I think they were focusing on the wrong problem.

I think the problem is not the eating of these dogs, but how commonly Koreans buy pets and then throw them out once they are tired of keeping them. People here sometimes really just buy pets on a whim because they look cute!

[littlelisa]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOoB4n7jHqA

[young_clinton]

[cdninkorea]

It's my understanding that Koreans do not only eat a certain breed of dog specially bred for that purpose. I had a co-worker a few years ago who lived near Moran Market (Korea's largest dog meat market), and she said there were all kinds of dogs there. I've also seen photos on the Internet of trucks full of dogs stuffed together in a big mesh wire. They were taken in Korea (Korean license plates, road signs in Korean, etc.). I don't even know why people use this as a defense anyway: Provided you aren't stealing someone's pets, is eating all kinds of dogs somehow 'worse' than a certain breed? I don't see how it's any different, good or bad.

I don't have an agenda here: While I am a dog-lover and the thought of eating dog disturbs me greatly, ultimately I think it's ethically no different from eating any other kind of meat.

About stray dogs: There are shelters which euthanise the dogs after a certain period of time, and there are others that never do. I volunteer at a shelter in Yangju (NE of Seoul) that doesn't euthanise; there are dogs that have been there their whole lives, which in some cases is over a decade.

BTW, if anyone is interested in volunteering at the dog shelter, let me know!

[Mix1]

[young_clinton]

[transmogrifier]

They all get taken to a big farm in Gyeonggido where they get to play with their little doggie friends, chase butterflies and sniff as many butts as they like.

[Mix1]

[Mix1]

[chickenpie]

[nicwr2002]