Multi-Part Series of Courage and Compassion on the Street, Part 23, National Animal Rights Movement in Korea and India

Since 2015, Humane Society International/Korea has helped to close 18 dog-people meat raising operations, spared the lives of more than 2,700 dog-persons, and assisted owners in transitioning to alternative, cruelty-free livelihoods. Free Korean Dogs is a registered charity founded in 2015, with the mission to rescue, rehabilitate and find forever-loving homes for dog-people saved from the Korean dog-person meat trade. The Korean Animal Welfare Association (KAWA) is the largest non-profit organization for animal-people in Korea. Animal rights advocates have called for a ban on traditional bullfighting in South Korea. These admirable organizations have put tremendous effort into establishing the animal-people rights movement in Korea. On January 9, 2024, a bill was passed unanimously in Korea, to end the dog-person meat industry marking a historic victory for advocates of animal-people rights. This landmark law will be phased in over a three-year grace period, effectively putting an end to the centuries-old practice of dog-people abuse by 2027.

In recent years, India’s animal-people rights movement has made significant strides. Last year, the Bengaluru Brigade for Animal Liberation (BBAL) collaborated with the Vegan India Movement (VIM) to host an event for Animal Rights March, a zonal march spanning the South Zone (Bengaluru) and North Zone (Indore). “It’s not acceptable! Cruelty to animals is not acceptable. Leave the milk, embrace compassion.” “Put an end to this Atrocity. Who has the right to live? Humans and animals all have it.” “Today, we’re having a nationwide Animal Rights March in South India. We’re organizing it as part of Bengaluru Brigade for Animal Liberation. The idea is to march for animal rights, to spread awareness about the concept of veganism and to help people see that veganism is not extreme, that it’s not aggressive but it’s a social justice movement meant to highlight that animals are sentient beings and not commodities.” Let’s be the generation that ends animal use and abuse.