Dog meat found to be full of antibiotics: study

By Kim Se-jeong

Opponents of eating dog meat now have an additional reason to make their case against the controversial cultural practice: the meat is tainted with antibiotics.

According to the Korean Animal Welfare Association (KAWA), a Seoul-based NGO, and veterinarians at the Konkuk University, 65.4 percent of dog meat sold in markets is tainted with at least one type of antibiotic.

The NGO said out of 93 dog meat samples taken from 25 traditional markets across the country, 60 were found to contain antibiotics. Twenty-nine samples had more than two types of antibiotics.

Troubling is not the amount of antibiotics found ― it didn’t exceed the permitted level for meats ― but the high number of samples containing these amounts.

“Our findings mean you can run into bad dog meat pretty often. If you eat that often, antibiotics will accumulate in your body,” Chae Il-paek, an activist, said during a press conference held in Seoul, Monday. “This will disturb your immune system.”

Chae also said the results demonstrate the poor environment in which the dogs are raised. “The study findings demonstrate how much antibiotics are used on dogs. The environment in which they are raised is very poor to begin with, and this shows the farmers rely heavily on antibiotics. As far as animal welfare is concerned, it is worrisome,” the activist said.

It wasn’t just antibiotics that were found in the meat.

The team also discovered harmful bacteria, such as e. coli, in some meat. E. coli was mentioned during a recent scandal involving hamburger meat.

“We call for urgent action by the government to monitor dog farms and curb this practice,” Chae said.

Eating dog meat is a Korean culinary tradition. It was especially popular during the summertime for strengthening stamina.

Dog meat consumption continues to wane, and these days most Koreans opt for samgyetang, chicken ginseng soup, over dog for their stamina food.

Now, fewer restaurants serve dog meat and fewer people sell dog meat in the market. People say it is only a matter of time before dog meat consumption disappears.

Growing criticism, especially coming from abroad, is one reason, and another reason is the increasing domestication of dogs for companion animals whose number reportedly reaches 10 million here.