Kim Jong Un orders pet dogs to be confiscated in North Korean capital

Discussion in 'Animal Welfare' started by kazenatsu, Aug 23, 2020.

  1. kazenatsu

    kazenatsu Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Kim Jong Un orders pet dogs to be confiscated in North Korean capital

    By Kate Sheehy
    August 17, 2020

    North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has ordered pet dogs to be confiscated in the country’s capital, saying the pooches represent "Western decadence" - but their owners fear Fido is really headed for someone's dinner table.

    Kim issued the directive in July to round up the pets, claiming they were part of "a 'tainted' trend by bourgeois ideology," a source told the English edition of Chosun Ilbo, a South Korean newspaper.

    "Ordinary people raise pigs and livestock on their porches, but high-ranking officials and the wealthy own pet dogs, which stoked some resentment" among the lower classes, the source said.

    "Authorities have identified households with pet dogs and are forcing them to give them up or forcefully confiscating them and putting them down."

    But while the oppressive regime says the move is to clamp down on capitalist extravagance in Pyongyang, the dog owners are fearful that given North Korea's food shortage - and propensity for eating dog meat - the directive has only come about to feed the masses.

    The dog owners are "cursing Kim Jong Un behind his back," but otherwise, their hands are tied, the source lamented.

    Kim Jong Un orders pet dogs to be confiscated in Pyongyang

    Part of the reason dog-ownership would be seen as representing "decadence" would be that in parts of the country, meat is especially in short supply, and some of the people are not able to have meat on their table every day.
    The fact that someone else would keep a pet, which others see is as livestock animal, and a luxury, and feed that pet food, is almost seen as an insult, in a country where equality is supposed to reign supreme and where there is not enough food for everyone else. Korean culture also has a traditional history of eating dogs.
     
    Last edited: Aug 23, 2020
  2. Injeun

    Injeun Well-Known Member

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    So dogs, like the people, should have to fend for themselves and not be doted over while other people starve. While having pet dogs may be seen to hungry people as insulting, the result of removing pets from the better off will do nothing to improve the lives of the populace. They will still know that the better off are well fed.
     
    Last edited: Aug 24, 2020
  3. MJ Davies

    MJ Davies Well-Known Member

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