South Korea banned dog meat. So what happens to dogs?

When he does not herald the word of God, the priest Joe Young Pong raises dogs to slaughter.

The work does not go well. In fact, it is on a brink to become illegal.

“Since last summer, we have been trying to sell our dogs, but traders continue to hesitate,” says Mr. Joe, 60, to the BBC. “None of them appeared.”

In 2024, the South Korean government carried out a ban on the country’s level of selling dog meat for consumption. The legislation of the teacher, which was issued last January, is granted farmers like Mr. Joe until February 2027 to close their operations and sell their remaining animals.

But many say that this is not sufficient to gradually get rid of the industry, which has pushed their livelihoods for generations – and that the authorities still have not reached enough guarantees for farmers or an estimated half a million dogs in captivity.

Even those who support the embargo, including experts and animal rights advocates, have developed issues about its enforcement – including the difficulty of reorganization that has been rescued from the killing hall, which is now facing the threat of compassionate murder.

In the middle of the grace period, dog farmers find themselves with hundreds of animals that can be almost unimaginable, uninterrupted farms, and few means to put food on the table.

“People are suffering,” says Joe, who is also the head of the Korean Association of Eedabolic dogs. A group that represents the industry. “We are drowning in debts, and we cannot pay it, while others cannot even find a new work.

“It is a hopeless position of it.”

Chan-Woo 18 has a month to get rid of 600 dogs.

After that, 33-year-old meat farms-who have agreed to not reveal his identity for fear of the reverse reaction-a penalty of up to two years in prison.

He says: “Realistically, even on my farm, I can’t treat the number of dogs that I have at that time,” he says. “At this point, all Adwani (on the farm) has invested – however it does not take even dogs.”

Through “they”, only the traders and butchers who, before the ban, will buy what a medium average per week.

It also refers to the animal activists and authorities of the animal rights of his opinion, after they fought hard to ban the meat trading dogs, they do not have a clear plan for what to do with the remaining animals – which are approximately 500,000, according to government estimates.

“They (authorities) passed the law without any real plan, and now they say they cannot even take dogs.”

Lee Sangkyung, campaign manager at Humane World for Animals Korea (HWAK), is repeated, these concerns.

“Although the ban on dog flesh has passed, both the government and civil groups are still struggling with how to save the remaining dogs,” he says. “One of the areas still feels a lack of discussion about the dogs that left behind.”

A spokesman for the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Affairs and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) told the BBC that if the owners of the farms abandon their dogs, the local governments will take over and manage them in shelters.

Rehabilitation, however, has proven challenging.

Since the weight is equal to the profit in the manufacture of dogs, the farmer tends to prefer the larger breeds. But in the high South Korean community, where many people live in residential complexes, they often want ambitious pet owners the opposite.

Mr. Lee also explains a social stigma associated with dogs that come from meat farms, due to disease fears and shocks. The case increases due to the fact that many are either pure or mixed Tosa-inu, a strain that is classified as “dangerous” in South Korea and requires the government’s approval to preserve it as a pet.

Meanwhile, rescue shelters are already crowded.

This ideal storm of obstacles indicates a harmful courage: that countless rescue dogs, with anywhere to go, are now facing the possibility of getting rid of theology.

“It is incredible,” says Chan Wu.

“Since the law took place according to the requirements of these groups, I assumed that they also put a solution for dogs – as if they were responsible for them. But I now hear that even animal rights groups say compassionate murder is the only option.”

Zhu Ho Kyung, head of the Korean Animal Care Association, admitted in September 2024 that while rights groups will try to save the largest possible number of animals, there will be “dogs left”.

“If the remaining dogs become” lost and attacking animals, “she said, this is a snare, but they will be disposed of.”

The government sought to alleviate these concerns after weeks, saying that the compassionate animals “are definitely” are not part of their plan.

Recently, the Mafra BBC told that it was investing about 6 billion Korean ($ 4.3 million; 3.2 million pounds) annually to expand animal shelters and support special facilities, and would provide up to 600,000 Korean winning each dog ($ 450; 324 pounds) for farmers who closed their work early.

But Chun Mayung Sun, Director of the Veterinary Medical Education Office at Seoul National University, agrees that the government’s broader government plan is largely lacking.

“There should be a concrete discussion on how to” get rid of “dogs”, “she says.

“Both adoption and compassionate murder should be on the table. (But) If we make an effort to save dogs from harsh slaughter only to berries, it is understood that people feel sad and angry.”

Some have searched for solutions further, as animals were sent abroad to the most prepared advents in countries like Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States.

In 2023, a team of HWAK saved about 200 dogs from a farm in Asan – they were all sent to Canada and the United States.

The former owner of that farm, Yang Jong Tae, 74, told BBC that when the rescuers who loaded his dogs on their trucks, he was surprised by the level of sympathy they showed.

“When I saw how they dealt with animals – as they were dealing with people, gently and love – he really paid me,” he said.

“We do not treat them in this way. For us, dog raising was just a way to earn a living. But these people from the animal group dealt with dogs as if they were individuals in dignity, and this did not really touch my heart.”

Mr. Yang rushed to add that he did not refuse to prohibit meat cultivation.

“If dog meat is banned because dogs are animals, then why is it okay to eat other animals such as cows, pigs or chicken?” He said. “It is the same. These things are in nature for people to live on.”

Eating the dog is not the same as eating other meat, according to Mrs. Chun. She notes that dog meat carries more risks from the perspective of food safety and hygiene – especially in South Korea, as it was not integrated into the system of organized formal meat.

Although consumption rates have fluctuated throughout the history of Korea, it has become increasingly taboo in recent years.

A government survey of 2024 found that only 8 % of the respondents said they had tried dog meat in the previous 12 months – a decrease from 27 % in 2015. About 7 % said they would continue to eat it until February 2027, and about 3.3 % said they would continue after the fully effect.

Meanwhile, starting from June 2025, 623 dog farms of 1537 dogs closed.

“With the development of society and culture, the South Korean community has now made a decision to stop producing dog meat,” says Ms. Chun.

However, it remains the cornerstone of an industry that they built their lives.

Each member of the meat trading dog talked about the uncertainty about how to support themselves now after their long livelihoods have been considered illegal.

Some say they resigned from the life of poverty, noting that they were born during the Korean war and they knew how to live hungry. Others suggested that trade could go underground.

However, many agree that for younger farmers, the campaign is especially worrying.

Joe says: “Young people in this industry really face a dark reality,” says Joe. “Since they cannot sell dogs, they cannot close quickly. They are stuck, without any way forward or back.”

Chan Wu recalls that when working in the industry began a decade ago, in 23 years, “dog meat was not negative.”

“There was still, there were some comments from people around me, so even at that time I realized that it was not anything that I could do for the rest of my life.”

The ban came faster than he was expected – and since its announcement, he says: “Gaining a living has become incredible in an incredible way.”

“All we hope now is that the allowance can be extended so that the process of (dealing with the remaining dogs) can gradually occur.”

Many others hope for the same. But since the manufacture of dog meat is pulled from under the feet of those who depend on it, Mr. Joe can only speculate on dark thought: that some farmers may not be able to withstand uncertainty for a longer period.

“At the present time, people are still sticking, hoping that something will change – perhaps the allowance will be extended,” he says. But by 2027, I really think that a terrible thing will happen.

“There are many people whose lives are completely revealed.”