Breeding Farm Abuse Cases Continue
138,000 Animal Rights Activists Sign Petition
Industry Workers Protest as "Legislative Murder"
Amid ongoing animal abuse incidents at pet breeding farms, interest in the 'Korean version of the Lucy Law' is rising.
In the National Assembly, bills aimed at stopping so-called puppy mills are being consecutively proposed. Animal rights groups are urging swift legislation, but industry workers are fiercely opposing it, citing livelihood issues.
According to the National Assembly Legislative Information System on the 9th, Wi Seong-gon, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, proposed an amendment to the Animal Protection Act last November. The bill includes prohibiting auctions and speculative trading of animals, banning the sale and third-party transactions of puppies and kittens under six months old, limiting breeding to no more than 100 animals aged six months or older, and strengthening management of pet producers and sellers.
On the 6th, animal rights groups held a rally supporting the Lucy Act in front of the Seogwipo Student Culture Center in Jeju. [Photo by Friends of Lucy]
Additionally, Yoon Mi-hyang, an independent lawmaker, submitted an amendment last month that prohibits separating puppies and kittens under six months old from their mothers, restricts the sale and third-party transactions of animals under six months old, and requires securing one caretaker per 30 animals.
These bills are based on the UK's Lucy Law enacted in 2018. Lucy was the name of a puppy rescued from a breeding farm in the UK who died from diseases including spinal deformities caused by repeated pregnancies and births. Following this incident, the UK only allows the sale of puppies and kittens bred by the seller themselves. Starting this year, New York State in the US banned the sale of puppies, kittens, and rabbits in pet shops, which is seen as an effort to curb factory-style breeding farms.
In South Korea, abuse incidents at puppy breeding farms continue to surface. In September last year, 1,400 puppies were rescued from a breeding farm in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, where signs of animal abuse were detected. At this location, the mothers’ abdomens were cut with utility knives, and about 100 puppy carcasses were found in a freezer. Furthermore, 1,000 more puppies than permitted were left in cramped spaces. Earlier, in November 2022, a mother dog was found with organ damage from repeated births at a breeding farm in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province, and died after receiving treatment.
Currently, animal rights groups have gathered 138,000 signatures supporting the Korean version of the Lucy Law. 'Friends of Lucy,' a coalition of 19 animal protection organizations, pointed out that over 200,000 animals are sold annually through the 'puppy mills-auction houses-pet shops' cycle in South Korea without limits.
They stated, “In a mass production and mass sales system driven solely by profit, businesses not only fail to comply with animal welfare but also exploit and abuse animals,” emphasizing, “If the amendment passes, animal auctions will disappear from this land, and pet shops displaying young animals in glass cases will no longer be possible.”
In response, the pet industry has labeled the legislation as ‘legislative murder’ and is demanding the withdrawal of the bills. The Emergency Committee of the National Pet Industry Association criticized, “This is the worst law that criminalizes 100,000 pet industry workers and completely destroys their livelihoods,” adding, “Legally forcing all living beings, which are fluid and dynamic, to breed only up to 60 months is an incomprehensible result of desk-bound administration.”
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
