87% of dog meat farms closed ahead of February ban

With the country’s ban on the dog meat trade slated to take effect on Feb. 7 next year, 87 percent of dog farms have been shut down, a pace faster than the government had anticipated, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said Sunday.

A total of 1,537 dog meat farms were registered nationwide when the government announced the ban in February 2024 and began accepting closure notices from farm owners. As of Sept. 21, 198 farms remained in operation. The number of farms that had closed was 30 percent higher than the government had expected by that point.

The number of dogs kept in cages stood at 468,000 in August 2024, the final month of a six-month period during which the government encouraged farm owners to submit closure notices and plans. As of last month, an estimated 7,600 dogs remained at farms still operating.

The ministry is encouraging the remaining farm owners to close their businesses before the ban takes effect next year. In collaboration with local governments, it will conduct a special inspection campaign from November to December to check whether closed farms have secretly resumed operations and review closure plans at farms still in business.

The government is ordering the shutdown of farms that have violated clauses under the Special Act on the Ban and Termination of the Breeding, Slaughter, and Distribution of Dogs for Consumption that became partly effective in February 2024. Farms that have increased the number of dogs or failed to separate male and female dogs to prevent them from breeding are subject to immediate shutdown.

How to manage the remaining dogs is emerging as a challenge for the government. The ministry estimates that about 7,600 dogs will need to be cared for after the ban takes effect.

To address the issue, the ministry is urging local governments to monitor dog farms in their jurisdictions and develop measures to protect and care for the animals based on their breed, size, age and sociability.

The ministry aims to identify every dog farm in the country, including unregistered operations. To ensure none are overlooked, it has been conducting monthly nationwide inspections to locate such farms and urging their owners to shut them down.

"The end of dog meat consumption marks a crucial turning point that will elevate our society’s animal welfare standards to the next level. We will closely monitor on-site operations to ensure the smooth closure of the remaining farms and make thorough preparations to address the issue of the remaining dogs after the ban takes effect," said Lee Yong-jik, director general of the ministry’s Animal Welfare Policy Bureau.