From plate to pet: Promotion of trans‐species companionship by Korean animal activists

Abstract

In Korea cats and dogs are both pets and food. This article looks at how Korean activists bring the issue of animal welfare to the attention of Korean society in the context of cat and dog meat consumption. It explores the ways in which activists deploy rescue narratives in order to attract families willing to adopt rescued animals, thus transforming people's perception of livestock animals into that of potential lifetime companions. Combined here are the Confucian virtue of impartial benevolence and 18th‐century Western moral philosophy.

Parasites and vector-borne diseases disseminated by rehomed dogs

“…Multiple drivers affect canine welfare worldwide including natural disasters [ 1 ], persecution of street dogs [ 2 ], the canine meat trade [ 3 ], the practice of acquiring pet dogs as puppies bred in high production, commercial facilities, often in geographically remote locations [ 4 , 5 ] and travelling dogs brought for mating [ 6 ]. Public desire to adopt dogs from abroad that have often had their welfare compromised by these events is increasing.…”

“…Financial aid for projects associated with canine welfare supported by governments and by international charities is helpful in tackling canine welfare issues in countries of origin [ 19 ]. This funding, together with increased policing of existing animal welfare laws, is important for implementation of these measures, but it is critically important to be sensitive to accepted norms in different cultures [ 3 ]. Engagement of dog rescue organisations is also beneficial for promotion of rehoming of dogs in their region of origin and, wherever possible, to encourage them to relax their requirements for rehoming where welfare will not be compromised as a result.…”

Towards a critical psychology of human–animal relations

“…Wolfe's (2010) version of posthumanism similarly asserts "a shared trans-species being-in-the-world constituted by complex relations of trust, respect, dependence, and communication" (p. 141). We also see attempts to articulate a human-nonhuman relational ontology in fields as diverse as archaeology (Watts, 2013), anthropology (Dugnoille, 2014;Kirksey & Helmreich, 2010;Kohn, 2013;Latour, 2014), geography (Whatmore, 2006;Wright, 2015), sociology (Charles, 2014;Cudworth, 2015;McCarthy, 2016;Sanders, 2007;Wilkes, 2013;York & Longo, 2017) criminology and legal studies (e.g., Agnew, 1998;Sollund, 2011); philosophy and cultural studies (Haraway, 2003;Litchfield, 2013;Plumwood, 2002); natural history (Henderson, 2012); feminism (Adams, 2015;Kemmerer, 2011;Potts, 2010); and the growing interdisciplinary field of human-animal studies (HAS) (Birke & Hockenhull, 2012;DeMello, 2012;Peggs, 2012;Wilkie, 2015)-dedicated to finding "new ways of thinking about animals and about human-animal relationships" (Potts, 2010, p. 291). Evidence of a growing understanding of interrelatedness incorporates animals, but also extends to other nonhuman forms, beings, things, places, and elements of the morethan-human world (Anderson, Adey, & Bevan, 2010;Bawaka Country et al, 2016;Ingold, 2005).…”

The Relationship Between Dog-Related Factors and Owners' Attitudes Toward Pets: An Exploratory Cross-Sectional Study in Korea

“…It has been estimated that 30.9% of Korean households, 5.9 million households, currently have a dog as a companion animal (29). In Korea, dog consumption continues, but over the past 15 years there has been a cultural shift in public attitudes toward dogs as pets (30). Dogs as companions did not become commonplace in Korea until after the 1990s when the economic situation improved.…”