South Koreans Use Cats And Dogs For Food

While in the United States cats and dogs are exclusively pets and in most cases they are cherished members of our families in some parts of the world that is not the case. In South Korea these pets are used for food. It is estimated that they consume somewhere between 4-8 million of them annually. The way the annimals are procured is a little bit criminal to say the least. A butcher will pay as much as $20 American dollars to anyone who can provide them with a cat or dog for them to slaughter and sell at the local market as meat. There are even roving bands of Koreans who run around cities such as Seoul, South Korea on little moped type motor bikes with little boxes attached to the back that are about the same size as a typical cardboard box. What they do is run around their neighborhoods looking to steal pets that they happen to come across. Once they secure them they bring them to the local butcher that they are doing business with and the transaction is conducted. Once the animals are in the hands of the butcher at the market they are treated in the most barbaric ways. In some cases the animals are thrown live into a vat where they are boiled to death and then once removed they are cut up and sent to market. For some butchers who do not have such facilities they often simply choke the animal with their bare hands and then cut it up and sell it for food. Often times they hang the animal from a makeshift noose which can take from 5 to 10 minutes in some cases before the animal passes away. It is some of the most unimaginable cruelty you could think of.