Complex that housed several hundred animals at a time to be dismantled and turned into public park

South Korean officials on Thursday began to dismantle the country’s largest canine slaughterhouse complex, as animal rights activists push to end the custom of eating dog meat. About one million dogs are eaten a year in South Korea, often as a summertime delicacy with the greasy red meat - invariably boiled for tenderness - believed to increase energy. But the tradition has earned criticism abroad and has declined as the nation increasingly embraces the idea of dogs as pets instead of livestock, with eating them now something of a taboo among young South Koreans. The Taepyeong-dong complex in Seongnam city, south of Seoul, housed at least six dog slaughterhouses that could hold several hundred animals at a time, and was a major source of dog meat for restaurants across the country. Seongnam City officials said the complex is to be cleared over two days and will be transformed into a public park, following an uprising from animal rights activists in South Korea. Activists from the US-based group Humane Society International, who gained entry to the complex on Thursday after the court hearing ruled it should be dismantled, found equipment used to administer electric shocks to the animals and a pile of dead dogs left to rot on the floor. “It will open the door for more closures of dog meat slaughterhouses across the country, expediting the decline of the overall dog meat industry.”

The Taepyeong-dong complex – an important source of meat for restaurants across the country – housed at least six slaughterhouses, holding several hundred animals at a time.
South Korea shuts down the country's largest dog meat slaughterhouse. The move is lauded by animal rights activists.