News

THE DAILY HERALD, May 17, 2002

Dear Editor:

The South Korea World Cup is approaching. As hard as it is to believe, there are everyday occurrences in this country where cats and dogs are tortured for "tonics" and "aphrodisiacs." Although South Korea law technically prohibits such cruelty and denounces dog-eating, these laws are mere façades with absolutely no enforcement.

Investigators from animal protection organizations and the media found that fully conscious dogs are strung up by their necks and violently beaten to increase the flow of adrenaline in their flesh, which is believed to make men who eat it more virile.

Cat hare boiled alive in pres-sure cookers (!) in order to extract their "juice" for use in medical "tonics."

During transport to market, dogs are crammed into trucks so tightly that their limbs often snap under the weight of their terrified companions.

Cats and dogs await their nightmarish fate in crowded cages, often so small that standing up is impossible, without food or water for days on end.

The Federation International de Football Association (FIFA), soccer's international body, recently urged the South Korean government to put an immediate end "to the routine torture of dogs and cats" as the country gears up to co-host World Cup 2002.

A small encouraging development against this torturing is a statement from the South Korean Prime Minister's office announcing his intention to address the mistreatment of dogs prior of slaughter. Nothing yet has been done against the boiling of live cats!

Isa De Luca