Dog meat trade

Every year, more than 16 million dogs are killed for human consumption. Suffering is inevitable throughout their short lives.

WSPA is working to end the dog meat trade. The commercial production of dog meat involves cruelty at every stage, from ‘dog farm’ or street capture through to transport and killing.

Miserable conditions

Barren, wire-floored ‘over the ground cages’ can cause limb deformities in puppies.
© Korean Animal Welfare Association (KAWA)

In Korea, farmed dogs live for less than a year, often raised in ‘over the ground’ cages. Although these cages are designed so waste can drain away, in reality they are rarely cleaned, resulting in a filthy build-up.

The dogs are usually fed on scraps from neighbouring restaurants or – as a WSPA-funded report discovered – even on other dogs, risking the spread of disease. Fighting over the meagre food supply causes aggression and injury.

The future holds nothing but hours or even days crammed in a small wire transport cage with up to 12 other dogs, heading to market.

An appalling end

Whether a captured stray or a farmed dog, many marketplace slaughter methods are deliberately designed to intensify and prolong the animal’s suffering. This is the result of a misguided belief that torturing a dog prior to death results in better tasting, adrenaline-rich meat.

Killing methods include clubbing to death, throat-slitting, hanging by the neck and electrocution.

Cruel and controversial

Both captured strays and farmed dogs suffer a desperately inhumane end: crammed into containers, they are transported to market live.
© Korean Animal Welfare Association (KAWA)

Eating dog meat isn’t without contention even in the countries where consumption is high, including China, South Korea and Vietnam. The dog meat trade is either illegal or unregulated in all the countries where it is most common.

In South Korea, for example, dogs are not officially recognised as livestock for slaughter and processing, meaning their meat cannot legally be sold. But enforcement is weak and many dog meat restaurants remain open. 

Why won’t regulating the dog meat trade protect animal welfare? >>

WSPA: Working to end the dog meat trade

While in some cultures the consumption of dog meat may be seen as traditional or beneficial for health, WSPA does not believe these arguments can justify animal cruelty.

WSPA works to end the dog meat trade primarily by supporting member societies in South Korea and other countries that host the trade, which fully understand the culture in their society.

We provide training and funding that enables groups to campaign effectively in their own country to achieve:

• progressive legislation to protect animals 
• greater respect and levels of care for dogs, and for cats – who are also cruelly killed for meat
• ultimately, an end to the trade in dog meat.

Read more about current work in South Korea >>

Help WSPA make a difference

The good news is that recent South Korean opinion polls – where animal welfare is a relatively new concept – suggest that the consumption of dogs is losing popularity, especially with the younger generation.

Together, we can build on this. Your support is vital. Please make a donation to WSPA >>