I
didn't know Ohio had a sister State. I had heard about sister cities before
when I had attended a Slovak group meeting in Lakewood some years back. I loved learning more about my Slovak heritage, and one of the things I learned is
that Cleveland shared a sister city with Bratislava, Slovakia. I also learned
what Bratislava means in English-Glory of Brothers. Cool!
Before I go too far afield from the purpose of my post which has to do with
S.Korean's terrible dog market, I also learned that Gene Cernan's father was
Slovak. Who is Gene Cernan? He is the last astronaut to have walked on the moon.
I also learned that two movie stars had one or both parents of Slovak
ethnicity-Paul Newman (mother) and Robert Ulrich (both parents). When I mentioned
this in my homespun book -- Blame It on Peaches -- I believe I learned that the
Newmans didn't agree with this information. Ho hum. His mother's people were born
in Humenne, Slovakia, but I don't remember or even care how they were able to dismiss this "fact." We still could claim the handsome, charismatic Robert
Ulrich who acknowledged his heritage publicly. Sadly, both actors have died
since.
WHAT ARE SISTER CITIES OR STATES?
Per Wikipedia re the list of sister cities in Ohio, "This is a list of
sister states, regions, and cities in the U.S. state of Ohio. "Sister cities, known in Europe as
town twins, are municipalities (sometimes counties, regions, states and other sub-national
entities) that cooperate to foster cultural links. They interact with each other
across a broad range of activities, often including education, business, the arts, or
health care. Many Ohio jurisdictions work with foreign cities through 'Sister Cities
international,' an
organization whose goal is to "promote peace through mutual respect,
understanding and cooperation."
I think the concept of sister cities and or sister states is quite nice,
but I wondered about just how significant is the impact on each corresponding city or
state. Those of us who received an e-mail from KOREANDOGS.ORG may find out one day.
They asked us to sign the petition asking Governor John R. Kasich of Ohio
to: Tell Sister State, Gyeongsangbuk-do (Gye-ong-sang-buk-do) Province, South Korea, That
We're Opposed to the Torture and Consumption of Dogs and Cats. I couldn't help
smiling at this request --not because there is anything humorous about killing and
eating dogs and cats, but at the wonderful chutzpah of this group. I would never have it,
but I'm thinking --
if this effort does NOTHING but remind Governor Kasich, his counterpart in
S.Korea, and the rest of us, it is a wonderful endeavor all the same and should make us
think.
The post mentions that S.Korea is the home to global companies such as
Hyundai, Kia, Samsung, LG, Daewoo, SK, and POSCO, where "an estimated 2.5 million dogs
are tortured and slaughtered every year because of the greed of dog eaters and the dog
meat industry, and the profound indifference of the majority of South Koreans who do
nothing to stop this."
Well said, and of course one of the provinces that supports this mass
breeding and the brutal slaughter of dogs is Gyeongsangbuk-do Province- our Ohio sister
state. Knowing this, I certainly will not buy anything from the above mentioned companies. I
hope other readers will also join me in this boycott, but I am not optimistic. Very few of us
boycotted the Beijing
Olympics- despite being told that Chinese furriers were skinning alive
their poor captive Raccoon dogs. It may even be continuing to this day.
And from the last part of this informative post, I would like to quote from
KOREANDOGS.ORG their graphic description of what happens to the dogs in the countless dog
farms and slaughterhouses scattered though out this province which is truly hell on
earth for the defenseless dogs suffering there: "Man's best friend exists for their
entire lives in squalid, feces- encrusted raised wire cages in utter misery only to be slaughtered
in the most horrific of ways -- by electrocution, a hammer blow to the neck, being hung or
beaten, bleeding to death from a slashed throat, being burned to death from a blowtorch, or
thrown into a vat of boiling water while still alive." No, this Ohioan is not happy to have
such a cruel sister state.
I am also saddened remembering that my generation who fought in the Korean
War came home as far as I know and did nothing to try to educate us re this
cruelty. And then even what is more astounding to me is that there are laws in S. Korea AGAINST
SELLING DOGS AND CATS FOR CONSUMPTION. If so, It is obvious that these laws are being
blatantly ignored.
This would be a great talking point if only Governor Kasich would be
willing to take this crusade on. Alas though, I think he is basically a "people" person, and
the lives of animals may not concern him very much. I hope I am wrong. I will be sending him
this post --though I doubt it will reach his desk.
LAWS IN S. KOREA AGAINST SELLING DOGS AND CATS FOR CONSUMPTION (in
brief)
I was shocked to read this part of the post. I had no idea that there were
laws in S. Korea against the killing of dogs and cats, but obviously they are being
completely ignored.
Article 2 -- ....does not categorize dogs as livestock that can be processed
as food. Therefore this make the dog meat industry technically illegal.
Article 3 - BASIC PRINCIPLES FOR PROTECTION OF ANIMALS. In brief this
article describes compassionate principles for the raising and caring for or protecting an
animal. Every one of the 5 principles I read here is being ignored by the greater majority of
the people of S. Korea who keep and slaughter these poor dogs.
Article 8 -- PROHIBITION OF ANIMAL ABUSE. Here again all the cruelty which
the dogs of S.Korea suffer are supposedly against the law, but obviously, this sounds
good on paper, but the question has to be asked -- How is this measure being enforced?
Article 9 -- ANIMAL TRANSPORTATION- Animals are to be properly fed, watered,
and driven carefully so that the animals are not shocked or harmed from sudden
departures or stops. The actual practices of transporting these dogs are anything but humane and
considerate.
Article 46- PUNISHMENT -- Anyone who violates Article 8, Clause 1-through 3
shall be punished with up to one year in prison or a maximum fine of 10 million Korean won
($7,000 USD). Again another article which obviously is not enforced.
I had never read these laws before which I have abbreviated. I even still
wonder -- could they be accurate- seeing as the cruel killing of dogs has been going on for so
many, many years and continues to this day?
I truly hope Governor Kasich will read this carefully. If he is a
responsible legislator, he will see that S. Koreans are flagrantly ignoring the laws of S. Korea re man's
best friend.
