400,000 dogs disappeared before the meat ban in South Korea. Where did hundreds of thousands of dogs go?

As South Korea prepares to impose a nationwide ban on the breeding, slaughter and sale of dogs for meat next year, a troubling question arises: What happened to the hundreds of thousands of dogs that once supplied the country’s dog meat industry?According to government estimates, between 400,000 and 450,000 dogs will be bred for meat in 2024.

Today, that number has fallen to about 20,000, with farms closing ahead of the ban, which takes effect in February 2027.

But officials have no records showing where most of the animals went.“Our role is to verify that the dogs are no longer on farms or slaughter facilities before offering compensation,” an inspector at the South Korean Ministry of Agriculture told AFP, requesting anonymity.He said: “We are not involved in what happened with the dogs.”The country’s landmark legislation, passed in January 2024, prohibits the breeding, slaughter and sale of dogs for human consumption. Violators face a prison sentence of up to three years.To encourage farmers to exit the industry, the government has offered compensation of up to 600,000 won (about $390) for each dog removed from farms.However, official data obtained by a lawmaker showed that by February, only 623 dogs had been adopted out and fewer than 500 had been transferred to shelters, leaving the fate of hundreds of thousands of animals unclear.

Animal welfare groups believe many dogs were slaughtered before the law came into effect.“If large numbers of rescued dogs entered adoption programs, animal groups like us would know about them,” said Kim Young-hwan, a representative of animal rights group CARE.“We have not seen any campaigns to adopt dogs rescued from dog farms,” ​​he told AFP.CARE says it has rescued and rehomed about 2,500 dogs from farms over the past two decades, most of which were sent abroad because South Koreans generally prefer smaller pet breeds suitable for apartment living.Dogs raised for meat are usually large breeds such as the Noryongi or Korean Yellow Spitz.Former dog farmer Jo Young-bong admitted what happened to many of the missing animals.“In South Korea, a distinction has long been made between dogs raised for food and those kept as pets,” Jo told AFP.In response to a question about the fate of thousands of missing dogs, he said it was likely that they had been “already eaten.”CARE’s Kim said the prospect was “infuriating,” adding that animal welfare organizations lacked the capacity to rescue such large numbers of dogs.According to the Ministry of Agriculture, 1,265 dog farms, or about 82% of the country’s total dog farms, had applied to close by May.Joe, who also works as a Christian pastor, said he entered the dog breeding business in 1994 after struggling to make a living through his ministry.“I feel that banning dog meat is a betrayal,” he told AFP.“It was imposed for political reasons, without meaningful dialogue or adequate measures to protect our livelihoods.”Many former dog breeders are trying to transition to other livestock businesses, but state licensing procedures have slowed that transition, he said.Animal rights advocates say the ban closes a long-standing legal loophole surrounding the treatment of dogs raised for meat.Unlike cattle or pigs, dogs are not officially classified as livestock in South Korea, allowing the industry to operate for decades without regulations governing breeding or slaughter practices.Animal rights groups claim that dogs are often electrocuted, hanged or beaten to death.At an abandoned slaughterhouse in Pyeongtaek, AFP journalists found rusty cages containing dog skulls along with equipment allegedly used to electrocute animals.“They often remained conscious while their internal organs burned,” Shin Ju-won, an activist with animal welfare group Kara, told AFP.“Other dogs will witness this process.”Kara said she rescued 29 dogs from the Pyeongtaek facility last month and filed a complaint against the farm owner for animal cruelty.