40% of Dog Breeding Farms Closed... 4 out of 10 Shut Down

623 Out of 1,537 Dog Breeding Farms Have Closed
Ministry of Agriculture Expects About 60% to Shut Down by 2025

It has been revealed that 4 out of 10 dog breeding farms have closed down.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced on the 9th that six months after the enforcement of the "Special Act on the Termination of Breeding, Slaughter, and Distribution of Dogs for Food Purposes" (August 7, 2024), 623 out of a total of 1,537 dog breeding farms, accounting for 40%, have gone out of business. The ministry expects that about 60% (938 farms) will close by 2025.

40% of Dog Breeding Farms Closed... 4 out of 10 Shut Down

Looking at the farms by size, not only small farms (300 heads or fewer), which find it relatively easy to close, but also medium and large farms are actively participating in early closure. Among medium and large farms with more than 300 heads (538 farms), 32.3% (174 farms) have completed closure. 60.4% (325 farms) are expected to close within this year, and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs sees the termination of dog meat consumption proceeding without major setbacks.

The ministry plans to work with local governments to promptly carry out closure support procedures for farms that close early and provide consulting to strengthen their capacity for career transition. For farms excluded from closure support due to violations of related laws and regulations and thus passive in implementing closure, the ministry intends to regularly conduct thorough inspections focusing on changes in breeding scale and expansion of breeding facilities, continuously encouraging participation in early closure.

Park Jeong-hoon, Director of Animal Welfare and Environmental Policy at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, stated, "We will support and thoroughly inspect all farms to ensure that they fully implement closure or transition by 2027," and urged, "We ask the related industries to actively cooperate with government policies so that our country can become an advanced nation in animal welfare."