In 2024, the South Korean government issued a landmark law banning the trade of dog meat. The law passed in January 2024 allows dog farm owners to sell to slaughterhouses until February 2027 to end business activities and sell the remaining livestock.
Many opinions say that there is not enough time to eradicate an industry that has been the livelihood of many generations, as well as the government has not been able to come up with a satisfactory protection measure for farmers and about 500,000 dogs being kept in captivity.
Chan-woo - the owner of a dog meat business - said that he had about 18 months to " process" 600 dogs. In case he cannot handle everything within the prescribed time, this 33-year-old man will face a penalty of 2 years in prison.
In fact, my farm cannot handle all the dogs in that short time, he said.
Mr. Lee Sangkyung - project manager at Humane World for animals Korea - shared the same concern: "Although the ban has been issued, both the government and civil groups are struggling to save the remaining dogs."
A spokesperson from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development of Korea said that if the farm owners abandon those dogs, the local government will receive them and send them to rescue farms.
Finding a new home for these dogs is gradually becoming a challenge.
In the dog meat industry, weight means profit, so farms often choose large dog breeds. However, in a highly urbanized society, many Koreans live in apartments, and small dog breeds are often preferred as pets.
In addition, many people are also concerned about raising dogs that are originally raised for meat due to their risk of disease and psychological injury.
At this time, the rescue teams are also overloaded. Ms. Cho Hee-hyung - head of the Korea Animal Protection Association - admitted that in September 2024, although protection groups will try to rescue as many animals as possible, the remaining dogs that cannot be rescued, considered "un controlled and abandoned" will still be destroyed.
A few weeks later, the authorities tried to reassure the people by saying that destruction was certainly not in the plan.
Ms. Chun Myung- Sun - Director of the Department of Veterinary Education at Seoul National University - said that there needs to be a specific discussion on adapting or destroying these dogs. But if we have tried to rescue them from the slaughterhouse just to destroy them, it is understandable that people feel heartbroken and angry.
The consumption of dog meat has been banned in Korea in recent years. A survey in 2024 showed that only 8% of survey participants said they had eaten dog meat in the previous 12 months, down 27% compared to 2015. As of June 2025, 623 out of 1,537 dog farms in Korea have closed.
