020627 Activists Urge S Korea to Stop Dog Meat Trade

Singapore - Animal rights activists mailed videos documenting the dog meat industry to South Korean embassies across Asia on Friday, urging the World Cup co-hosts to stop eating man's best friend and to quit selling it as a delicacy to tourists.

The video -- which shows golden retrievers, huskies and other breeds of dogs being dragged by their ears and shoved into tiny cages -- was mailed to embassies in nine countries in Asia, said Louis Ng, Singapore president of the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society.

The protest was organized by Asia Link, a coalition of animal welfare groups in 12 Asian countries, he said. The activists think their protest will influence South Koreans because it is being organized by Asians, and not Westerners.

"In the past we've seen Western organizations condemning them for eating dog meat," Ng told The Associated Press. "The Koreans say it's just a Western movement. Now we can say it's a global movement against the cruelty to dogs and cats."

Officials at the South Korean Embassy in Singapore were not immediately available to comment.

Ng disputed the claim made by some South Koreans that dog meat is a traditional Korean food that its people have been eating for centuries.

"It started during the Korean War when the people ate dog meat because they were starving," Ng said. "Now, dog meat is more expensive than chicken or pork. It's the affluent people eating dog meat as an aphrodisiac."

China also has dog farms and a dog meat industry, Ng said.

"But Korea is a priority because they are promoting dog meat to tourists during the World Cup," he said.

About 3 million of South Korea's 47 million people are believed to eat dog meat, and there are an estimated 6,000 dog meat restaurants nationwide.

A group of dog meat restaurant owners scrapped a plan to offer World Cup tourists free samples of their dishes because of pressure from authorities. But South Korea has rejected earlier calls from international animal rights groups to ban dog meat sales during the tournament that it is co-hosting with Japan.

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