July 18th, 28th And August 17 : Nearly 1,000 Tons Of Dog Will Be Consumed

July 18, 20010 will be the first of the South Korea's three Dog Days called boknal. The Chinese character bok (伏) is composed of human (人) and dog (犬). Starting from First Dog Day called Chobok, the Middle Dog Day or Jungbok, and Last Dog Day or Malbok are the culmination of summer heat on the Korean Peninsula. Middle Dong Day will be July 28 this year while the last one falls on August 17. On these three days, dog meat restaurants will be crowded with Diners and nearly 1,000 tons of dog will consumed!

One owner of a boshintang(dog meat)restaurant that was interviewed said that they had three times more customers than usual days. Boshintang is sold at steep prices at least two to three times more expensive than beef. According to 1998 government statistics, there are 6,484 boshintang restaurants scattered around the nation. The number of boshintang restaurants is was nearing 10,000 in 2005.

Back in 1998 estimated 8,428 tons of dog meat were circulated per year nationwide. Now it is well over 10,000 tons. In addition, 93,600 tons of gaesoju or dog extract (elixir) were sold in 1998, as well. Surprisingly, Korean women are the biggest consumers of dog meat!
These days, over 20,000 dogs are circulated and consumed per day as the number of female customers increases. Over 43 percent of all Korean women visit dog meat restaurants.

In general, dog meat is the fourth most popular meat after pork, beef, and chicken in South Korean markets.
On average, 280 tons of dog meat is consumed per day. For various reasons the Korea government, past and present, has never tried to clarify the legitimacy of dog meat or prevent illegalities!
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." -GandhiShare