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Seoul Authorizes Killing Animals to Prevent Spread of Bird Flu

In a bid to stop the spread of Avian flu in Korea, authorities have taken extreme steps to not only kill off all the poultry within a 500 meter radius of where the virus strain was found. Authorities have also started killing all pigs and dogs within this area, and say that stray cats and mice are next on their list. Animal rights groups are furious with Korean authorities, calling their moves ?unacceptable? and questioning whether there is any logic to killing these animals. In response, the Korean government said that it was acting within national guidelines and was even considering increasing the 500 m radius to incorporate 3 km.

Dogs are regularly bred in farms in rural Korea for consumption. Dog meat is particularly popular with middle-aged men who believe that it is essential for virility and stamina. 700 farm-bred dogs are earmarked for destruction in the coming days, while to date, 127 000 chickens and nearly 7 million eggs have been destroyed.

Protests about the killing of the dogs comes from the more affluent regions of Korea, such as the city of Seoul where it is becoming a trend to pamper and spoil domestic animals such as dogs and cats. This is a far cry from the way that animals are usually treated on farms ? most dogs don?t even have a name and all are kept chained outside the homes, or in cages ? usually waiting to be killed for food.