The Marmot’s Hole

Well, almost. According to the Kyunghyang Shinmun, a policy coordination committee chaired by Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan decided Wednesday to strengthen the supervision of dog slaughtering and the distribution of dog meat, although it stopped short of actually recognizing the sweetest of meats as “edible livestock.” The government will amend the Animal Protection Law in the first half of the year, clearly forbidding the slaughtering of dogs in public places or slaughtering of dogs using cruel methods like hanging them by the neck. Punishments for violators shall be greatly increased; under current laws, violators face fines of up to W200,000, but the amended law calls for fines of up to W2 million or six months in prison for taking your Louisville Slugger to Rover.

The Health Ministry, meanwhile, will conduct (at least) quarterly inspections of dog meat sellers and restaurants in order to block the sale of meat from sick dogs, laboratory test dogs, and dogs containing heavy metals. Should inspectors discover dodgy dog meat or unsanitary meat storage conditions, shops may be shut down or face other administrative punishments as well as legal action.

Oddly enough, however, the government is still refusing to officially add dog meat to its list of livestock that are legally permissible to slaughter and distribute, meaning that while the planned amendment is a step in the right direction for dog meat connoisseurs like yours truly, the delicacy still finds itself in a legal gray area.

According to the Kyunghyang Shinmun, the government appears hesitant to officially “legalize” dog meat out of concern that domestic and foreign animal protection groups will have a proverbial cow. One policy coordination committee official said, however, that as there are no articles in the law telling citizens not to eat dog meat, the consumption of said meat is not subject to punishment.