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The Moran Dog Meat Market in Seongnam

The city of Seongnam in Gyeonggi Province and some merchants at Moran Market in Seongnam, South Korea’s largest dog meat market, started tearing down dog kennels and slaughterhouses on Feb. 27. This could mean that Moran Market will no longer be equated with the place where dogs go to die.

On the morning of Feb. 27, Kim Yong-bok, chair of an association of merchants in the Moran livestock market, stood in front of his shop in Moran Market and publicly announced that he would initiate voluntary renovations of his facilities. After that, he started tearing down his dog kennels and slaughterhouses. “We were very afraid of losing our livelihood, but through the seven months of deliberation, we were able to build a partnership of mutual trust and reliance with Seongnam. I believe we can find a new way to maintain our livelihood,” Kim said.

The renovation work was the first concrete steps taken after Seongnam and the merchants agreed on Dec. 13 to remove the facilities, which have been the source of controversy and disgust. The agreement states that the merchants‘ association will stop confining and butchering dogs bred for slaughter and will voluntarily tear down all the kennels and slaughterhouses. In exchange, the city will provide administrative support so that the merchants can transfer to new jobs or industries and improve their environment.

The shops being demolished on Feb. 27, which measured 60 square meters in size, contained a few steel cages for housing dogs being bred for slaughter and a slaughterhouse.

This voluntary renovation will terminate the sale of dogs being bred for slaughter, but the sale of dog meat will continue. The city means to persuade dog meat merchants to shut down their businesses and switch to a different industry by May. At the moment, however, not all the shops are participating in the voluntary renovation. “Fifteen out of twenty-two shops are taking part in the voluntary renovation,” Kim Yong-bok said.

Moran Market is South Korea’s largest dog meat market, with an average of 220 dogs bound for the butcher being sold each day, or 80,000 each year. There were 54 shops in business in 2001, but the number was halved after consumption started to flag around the World Cup in 2002, which was hosted in South Korea and Japan. Even after that, dog kennels and slaughterhouses have had a negative impact on the area‘s reputation because of their stench and because of criticism from animal rights groups. The exclusion of dogs from the definition of livestock in laws about maintaining livestock hygiene has hamstrung local government officials, which have had no legal authority to regulate the industry. Merchants have fought back, demanding that their right to do business and to make a living be protected.

Then on July 22, 2016, Seongnam put together a task force representing 11 municipal departments to address the dog meat issue. While stepping up enforcement of regulations about unauthorized expansion of buildings and illegal use of roads, Seongnam set up a deliberative body with the merchants and sought a solution through more than ten rounds of dialogue.

By Kim Gi-seong, south Gyeonggi correspondent

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