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Sickening statistics

Humane World for Animals works in five Asian countries that drive the dog and cat meat trades: South KoreaIndonesia, ChinaViet Nam and India

20 million
dogs

are killed for human consumption each year in Asia

10 million
cats

are killed each year for human consumption across Asia

1000+
dogs

can be crammed onto a single trader’s truck

Take a look inside the issue

Transported for days—enduring trauma, dehydration, starvation, broken limbs, shock and disease—or cowering in the corner of a filthy slaughterhouse, awaiting their turn to die, these animals endure horrific suffering.

Cats at a slaughterhouse in Yulin, China

AP Images

A cat caught up in the cat meat trade in Yulin, China.

A cruel trade

In many countries across Asia, traders steal dogs and cats from the streets, steal pets from their homes and buy unwanted animals from their owners. The terrified animals are crammed together onto the backs of trucks and driven across the country. If they survive the journey, they face agonizing deaths through bludgeoning, blowtorching, drowning or hanging.

Dogs caught up in the dog meat trade

Alokparna Sengupta/Humane World for Animals

Factory farming dogs

In South Korea, dogs are kept and bred in barren cages on meat farms exposed to the blistering summer heat and freezing winter snow without proper food or veterinary care. They suffer from diseased skin, infected eyes, malnutrition, deformed limbs, untreated wounds as well as from the mental anguish of their deprived existence. They are typically killed by electrocution at around one year of age.

Staff interact with dogs affected by the dog meat trade

Meredith Lee/Humane World for Animals

Health risks

The World Health Organization warns that the dog meat trade poses human health risks from trichinellosis, cholera and rabies. Even if only a small percentage of people consume dog meat, the the mass movement of dogs of unknown disease status, unsanitary conditions at slaughterhouses and markets, and decreased herd immunity when vaccinated dogs are removed from their communities put millions more in danger.

Dog meat

Humane World for Animals

Dog meat for sale in Yulin, China.

Seasonal, regional

Across Asia, most people don’t eat dogs, but consumption is higher in certain regions and at certain times of year. In South Korea, more dog meat is eaten during Bok Nal (the three hottest days of summer) in the mistaken belief that it offers health benefits. In China, dog meat is more popular in provinces such as Guangdong, Yunnan, Guangxi (where the infamous Yulin dog meat “festival” takes place), Jilin and Liaoning. 

A man and woman in green Humane World windbreakers rescue white dogs from a dog meat farm and free them from their cage

Jean Chung

Haewon Lee, Humane World for Animals Korea's media and communication specialist, left, holds Cinnamon, and Sangkyung Lee, Humane World Korea's campaign manager, right, holds Ginger, and rescues them from a dog meat farm in Cheongju, South Korea.

Making progress

The public is increasingly speaking out against this cruelty.  Dog meat bans exist in—among others—Hong Kong; Taiwan; Thailand; the Philippines; 80+ cities, provinces and regencies across Indonesia and in some cities in mainland China and Cambodia. In January 2024, the South Korean government passed a landmark law banning the dog meat industry, which will see a complete phase out of the industry by 2027.  

Take Action

Ask national leaders and other decision-makers to put an end to the trade in dog and cat meat across Asia.

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Meredith Lee/The HSUS