Animal rights activists stage a rally opposing South Korea’s conventional tradition of consuming canine meat in Seoul, South Korea on July 8, 2023.

Ahn Young-joon/AP

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Ahn Young-joon/AP

Animal rights activists stage a rally opposing South Korea’s conventional tradition of consuming canine meat in Seoul, South Korea on July 8, 2023.

Ahn Young-joon/AP

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s parliament on Tuesday endorsed landmark laws outlawing the nation’s dwindling canine meat trade, as public requires the ban have grown sharply amid animal rights campaigns and worries concerning the nation’s worldwide picture.

Some offended canine farmers stated they plan to file a constitutional enchantment and launch rallies in protest, a suggestion that heated debate over the ban would proceed.

Dog meat consumption, a centuries-old observe on the Korean Peninsula, is neither explicitly banned nor legalized in South Korea. Recent surveys present extra individuals need its ban and a majority of South Koreans do not eat canine meat any longer. But the surveys additionally indicated one in each three South Koreans nonetheless oppose the ban although they do not eat canine meat.

On Tuesday, the National Assembly handed the invoice by a 208-0 vote Tuesday. President Yoon Suk Yeol’s authorities helps the ban, so the next steps to make it legislation are thought-about formality.

“This law is aimed at contributing to realizing the values of animal rights, which pursue respect for life and a harmonious co-existence between humans and animals,” the laws reads.

The invoice would make the slaughtering, breeding, commerce and gross sales of canine meat for human consumption unlawful from 2027 and punish such acts with 2-3 years in jail. But it does not stipulate penalties for consuming canine meat.

The invoice would provide help to farmers and others within the trade for shutting down their companies or shifting to alternate options. Details of outlawing the trade can be labored out amongst authorities officers, farmers, consultants and animal rights activists, in response to the invoice.

Humane Society International referred to as the laws’s passage “history in the making.”

“I never thought I would see in my lifetime a ban on the cruel dog meat industry in South Korea, but this historic win for animals is testament to the passion and determination of our animal protection movement,” stated JungAh Chae, government director of HSI’s Korea workplace.

The laws left farmers extraordinarily upset and annoyed.

“This is a clear state violence as they’re infringing upon freedom of occupational option. We can’t just sit idly,” stated Son Won Hak, a farmer and chief of a farmers’ affiliation.

Son stated canine farmers will file a petition to the constitutional courtroom and launch rallies in protest. He stated farmers will meet Wednesday to debate different future steps.

There is not any dependable official knowledge on the precise dimension of South Korea’s canine meat trade. Activists and farmers say a whole lot of 1000’s of canine are slaughtered for meat annually in South Korea.