VIDEO Animal groups: 'Infected pigs were buried alive, splattering blood'
Members of CARE and the Korea Association for Animal Protection wear pig costumes and protest at Gwanghwamun Square on Thursday over the slaughter of animals possibly infected with African swine fever. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
The linked video contains content some may find disturbing. Please view it with discretion. ― ED.
By Ko Dong-hwan
Korean animal protection groups condemned the government Thursday for brutally slaughtering pigs possibly infected with African swine fever, releasing
of the scene.
CARE and the Korea Association for Animal Protection (KAAP) protested at Gwanghwamun Square, calling on the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs to stop what it called inhumane slaughter.
As of Thursday, 20,000 pigs have been killed after the highly contagious disease was found at seven pig farms across cities of Paju, Yeoncheon, Gimpo, Incheon and Ganghwa since Sept. 18. This is the first time the disease has hit South Korea.
The protest came after the activists on Sept. 24 witnessed pigs being slaughtered at one of the farms. According to the video, some animals that were supposedly put to sleep by carbon dioxide and picked up by an excavator to be put into dump trucks were still conscious and squirming. Despite signs of life, officials ignored it.
The video also showed live piglets being kicked and thrown into a pit for burial.
The protesters said the ministry ignored Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for slaughter when disease is suspected. They cited the country's Animal Protection Act, Article 10. It states that slaughter in cases of prevention of diseases must minimize the pain by conducting gas intoxication or electrical stunning so the animals are unconscious before being slaughtered.
The protest came after over 20,000 pigs at seven farms in the western region of the country were slaughtered to prevent the spread of African swine fever. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
The video shows the slaughter was not carried out in accordance with the law.
The protesters said the ministry assigned service firms to conduct the slaughter and did not oversee the operation. The firms did not use enough carbon dioxide in the concentration stated by the standard, resulting in the animals suffering because their deaths were drawn out.
“We heard that when some pigs were found alive, they were beaten or impaled, causing their blood to splatter,” the protesters said during a press conference at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul's Jongno District. “That raises the risk of the disease's spread and violates the Animal Protection Act.”
The protesters said they have been demanding the use of gaseous nitrogen or electric stunning since 2011 for safer and faster slaughter but to no avail.
The protesters handed their list of demands to the offices of the country's Prime Minister and presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.
The agriculture ministry on Tuesday initiated a 48-hour lockdown for all pig farms, feed factories and slaughterhouses across the country. The authority then extended the order for another two days.
Authorities have not determined how the disease got into the country. They have been slaughtering pigs within a three-kilometer radius of infected farms.