Important Victory for KAPS!

Korean Government Drops Definition Of “Pet Animal” In Their Amendment

Dear friends of Korean animals,

Thanks to your persistence, Sunnan recently recieved a phone call from the Korean Minister of Agriculture saying that they finally removed the definition of “pet animal” from their draft amendment to the 1991 Animal Protection Law.

We also just recieved a report from the Korean government outlining the details of the new draft amendment. Once we finish translating it, we will send out another online update describing in more detail its contents, most likely tomorrow.

This has been another important victory for KAPS and IAKA in ensuring that only sincere and effective progress is made for the welfare of Korean dogs and cats. We are very pleased and relieved to receive this news; especially when the other Korean animal groups refused our request to join us in rejecting the Amendment if the government went ahead with their definition of “pet animal”. KAPS has a very difficult time in Korea competing with so many misguided persons and organizations involved in the dog and cat issue. However, recently the Korean government apologized to Sunnan and it looks like they finally got the message that it’s clear again that KAPS continues to take the right action on behalf of Korean animals. Even though the Amendment will still not achieve much of the progress needed for dogs and cats that we have hoped for, it’s ability to provide room for a dangerous legal justification for the distinction between pet dogs/cats and food dog/cats seems to be over for now.

We still have an opportunity to make progress towards ending the dog and cat meat trade. Recent Korean media attention has shown the growing awareness in Korea that dogs and cats can no longer be separated into categories where some can be companions, while others can be used for medicinal foods. We are using this new opportunity to make more Koreans aware that no dog or cat will ever be safe from the suffering and exploitation of the dog meat industry, so it must be put to an end by beginning to enforce the law today.

We will provide more details about the new draft amendment, once we finish translating it tomorrow. Thank you again for all of your support and compassion for the dogs and cats of Korea.

Sincerely,

Kyenan Kum
International Aid for Korean Animals
Korea Animal Protection Society
P.O. Box 20600, Oakland, 94620-0600, USA
www.koreananimals.org
iaka@koreananimals.org
(Tel.) 510-271-6795
(Fax) 510-451-0643