Animal rights group Care last year filed complaints against a dog farm operator in Bucheon, accusing him of "killing animals without proper reasons" and violating building and hygiene regulations, and prosecutors later charged him.
He was convicted by the Bucheon City court, which ruled that meat consumption was not a legal reason to kill dogs, and fined three million won ($2,700). He waived his right to appeal.
Care lawyer Kim Kyung-eun welcomed the ruling – made in April but with details only released this week – telling AFP: "It is very significant in that it is the first court decision that killing dogs for dog meat is illegal itself."
The Bucheon court decision sparked angry protests from dog farmers, whose premises usually double as slaughter houses as the government does not license abattoirs to kill dogs.
"This is outrageous. We can't accept the ruling that killing of dogs for dog meat consumption amounts to killing animals on a whim," Cho Hwan-ro, a representative from an association of dog farms, said on YTN television.
There are some 17,000 dog farms across the country, Cho said, calling for the government to explicitly legalise dog meat consumption and license dog slaughter houses. "Otherwise, we'll fight to the end," he added.
"Dogs for eating and dogs as pets must be separated," he said, adding they were different breeds, fed differently and raised for different purposes.
"Cows, pigs, chickens and ducks are all raised to be consumed and why not dogs?" he said.
afp.com
