Dog Slaughterhouse to Be Bulldozed, Turned Into Park

Tastes are changing in South Korea, where the country's largest dog slaughterhouse has been shut down. With fewer people eating dog meat and more people keeping dogs as pets, demand has been falling and a growing number of people consider the trade unacceptable, the BBC reports. "This is a historic moment," Korean Animal Rights Advocates said in a statement. "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 Humane Society International says hundreds of thousands of dogs from the country's dog meat farms were electrocuted at the slaughterhouse complex every year.

Officials in Seongnam say the Taepyeong-dong complex, which housed six separate slaughterhouses, will be demolished and turned into a public park. The Moran Market, described as "the last remaining bricks-and-mortar vendor selling live dogs," will also be closed, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reports. HSI campaigner Nara Kim says Taepyeong-dong "was a stain on the city of Seongnam and we are so pleased to see it bulldozed." The number of dog meat restaurant in Seoul has more than halved in recent years and many people are opting to use chicken in traditional dishes instead, according to the BBC. (Last year, another Asian country banned the consumption of dog and cat meat.)