South Korea bans the dog meat industry

This puts an end to a long tradition extending back hundreds of years.

The bill was approved in the National Assembly on Tuesday and will come into force from 2027. After that, the production, sale and consumption of dog meat will be banned.

The penalty for violating the ban will be three years' imprisonment or a fine of just under 250,000 Norwegian kroner.

Eating dog meat has been a tradition in South Korea for hundreds of years. But now it's mainly the elderly who eat dogs.

By April 2022, there were about 1,100 farms raising 570,000 dogs that will be served in about 1,600 restaurants in the country, according to South Korea's Ministry of Agriculture.

More and more South Koreans consider dogs as pets rather than food. Criticism directed at dog breeding and the method of slaughtering dogs has increased significantly.

The bill would put an end to the breeding and killing of dogs for human consumption, says Borami Seo of the animal protection group International Humane Society of Korea.

“We have reached a critical point to spare millions of dogs from this cruel industry,” she concluded.

Support for the ban has increased under President Yeon Suk-yeol. Reuters wrote that he is an animal lover and has adopted six dogs and eight cats with First Lady Kim Keun-hye, who has also criticized the industry.