South Korea begins regulating dogs as livestock under new pollution law

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2008:
SEOUL–The South Korean Minis-try of Food, Agriculture,
Forestry and Fish-eries in mid-August 2008 announced that it will
start regulating dogs as livestock for the purpose of enforcing a
newly revised Livestock Night Soil Disposal Act, effective on
September 28.
The South Korean dog meat industry has long sought to add
dogs to the list of designated meat animals, to overturn the
unenforced 1991 law that was promoted to the world as a ban on
selling dog meat, but only prohibits the public sale of “disgusting
foods.”

Dog meat advocates typically argue that it is necessary to
recognize dogs as a meat animal in order to introduce hygienic
inspection of dog meat markets and restaurants. Federal legislation
or regulatory amendments to identify dogs as a meat animal was in
April 2008 formally requested of the Ministry of Food, Agriculture,
Forestry and Fisheries by the city council of Seoul, the South
Korean capital city, and by the government of Gyeonggi Province,
which includes Seoul.
“Dog farms have been a major source of pollution,” an
unnamed environment ministry official told Korea Times reporter Kim
Tae-jong. “We have received a lot of complaints from local residents
in areas where dogs are raised.'”
Wrote Kim Tae-jong, “The revised Livestock Night Soil
Disposal Act requires dog farmers with facilities of 60 square meters
to have proper waste disposal facilities and report them to local
authorities by September 27. Violators can face a maximum penalty of
a one-year jail term or 10 million won fine,” worth about $10,000
U.S.
“Given the serious pollution issues, we cannot simply oppose
the move to regulate the night soil from dog farms,'” Coexistence of
Animal Rights on Earth director Jun Kyung-ok told Kim Tae-jong. “But
we will keep an eye on how it will affect other issues, such as
recognition of dog meat as food or legalization of the dog meat
trade.”
“Do not trust the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry
and Fisheries,” cautioned Korea Animal Protection Society founder
Sunnan Kum.
Kim Tae-jong of the Korea Times was told by the ministry that
about 720,000 South Korean farms raise 2.3 million dogs per year for
slaughter. The numbers are easily questioned, since according to
current ministry statistics, the total number of farms of any type
in South Korea is about 720,000, and the total number of humans
living on farms is 2.3 million.