UnchainedTV: South Korea Bans Dog Meat!

0:00 are so excited. Breaking news Unchained TV is speaking live with the animal rights leaders who helped achieve an historic breakthrough for animals and animal rights. South Korea has now voted to ban the dog meat trade. There were tears of joy outside the South Korean parliament after this groundbreaking vote was taken. Last chance for animals and its sister organisation, Animal Liberation Wave, led the charge to end this brutal dog meat industry. And last chance for animals, President Chris DeRose and Animal Liberation Wave President Jian Li, who is joining us live from South Korea, are here to talk about what this means for dogs everywhere and animals everywhere.

0:49 We're also joined by Sheena Gao, who rescued so-called meat dogs from China. So what does this mean for the dogs in China? Will this ban on dog meat spread to the rest of the world? We hope so. But let's find out. So excited to have my heroes. Let's start with Chris DeRose, founder and president of Last Chance for Animals. What an historic breakthrough. Put it in perspective. How big is this, Chris? This is international. This is huge. It's the biggest thing that I know of in my 45 years in the movement that took place that is this big in magnitude with the government of one very productive country working in cooperation with NGOs.

1:37 This is the first time I've seen this ever happen. And it's really, really exciting. As you can see, the video there and the picture says it all. It just says how excited the activists were. Some were in shock. Some were so ecstatic that they just couldn't hold themselves back. And you can see, I mean, you can see here the prime minister with the blue scarf. And she's she was a minister of parliament. And she's the one who introduced the bill initially and has stuck with it all this time. And then this is Jian Li.

2:18 Jian Li is head of the animal liberation wave, which is a sister organisation to LCA. And basically, she was the frontline soldier and doing all this, and also the frontline thinker and creator of different events, different campaigns that we could go after to bring attention to this issue. It was one we had to keep it in front of them nonstop to let them know that this is just not a bunch of people out here demonstrating. And then they're going to go away. We're okay for another year. You know, no, that's what's been happening. So what we did is we set up a plan to have many demonstrations, many, yeah, many demonstrations and just to keep it out there, keep it in front of them, having laser lights shining on the Blue House Dome, which was unheard of at any time.

3:14 I mean, even for LCA, that was unheard of. So, you know, we, we act, we actually acted as a liaisons between the animal liberation wave, and what was going to happen out there. We gave advice, we helped in that sense. We helped in a lot of different areas, but the credit is all due to animal liberation wave and Jieun Lee. Well, you could just see how emotional everybody is. This literally is history in the making. And of course, it's great news for dogs, but I think it's also great news for animals everywhere.

3:56 And I just want to applaud everybody who worked so hard to make this happen. What an historic day. And there you see Jieun Lee and Chris DeRose, who are joining us today speaking after this historic vote. And Jieun Lee, I want to talk to you about some of the incredible sort of techniques that you use to get across to the public that this is something that must, must end and must end now. We also have to talk about the fact that there is a three year adjustment period that is built into the law. So the dog meat farmers of whom there are what, more than a thousand still can ply their trade for three years is my understanding.

4:43 Bring us up to date. Tell us exactly what this vote said and what it means. And again, you are joining us live from South Korea. What a privilege to have you. It's such an honour to be joining this show. And yeah, well, as Chris explained, we've done for the last six years, we've done multiple campaigns, actions and demonstrations, both hosted by LCA. Also we've been in the forefront to collaborate with the coalition itself, which means we have a bunch of NGOs who have been working in South Korea tirelessly to end dog meat trade.

5:34 And well, basically the tactics that we used is get the MPs, the members of parliament, to be able to continue to speak about the necessity to end this brutal dog meat trade. And that was about really making creative scenes that South Korean people have not seen before, that this kind of thing can also happen in animal rights movement in South Korea, which is, as you see, this is like gigantic banner that we dropped on top of a building that is in a really strategic location in the heart of Seoul.

6:21 So after we did this action, I've been hearing from my friends who are not really looking into this issue's news every time, but they had seen this banner going down while they were commuting to work on like bus or cars. So yeah, this is what we have been doing continuously. And yeah, thanks to this kind of effort and all the efforts compiled from the local organisations and international too, I'm glad that we had this ban passed not too much later than January 2024 this year, because it also could have been the case that we would have seen the passage in sort of a delayed in time, so just like 2024 May or something.

7:19 But it was like really to our surprise that ruling party and the opposition party has actually really met their promise. They made it come true that the promise that they made that they will make sure to pass this law early. I want to jump in because we've got callers lined up, don't want to lose them. Michael in Los Angeles, your question or thought for our team of heroes? Yeah, listen, I am so excited by this news, best news all year so far. I actually adopted a South Korean rescue dog seven years ago. And it's been a real challenge, but I'm so grateful to have him in my life.

8:00 And I'm just really thankful that this happened and to everyone that made it happen. And my question is this, I know that dog meat is actually an older cultural thing. I don't think many of the younger people that live in these countries where they still consume dog meat. So my question is, do you think as the older generation dies off, that this will be a natural progression to where what happened in South Korea will happen in China, Vietnam and these other countries? Thank you. Yeah, and I'd like to toss that out to Sheena Gao. Sheena Gao is somebody who rescues dogs from China.

8:41 I've actually attended a couple of your events. We're going to play a little bit of that in a second. But do you think, and there were articles that said, well, what is China going to do now? Because there's a Yulin dog meat festival that is horrific. And I've got footage of that. I only want to play like 30 seconds of it because it's very disturbing. I mean, it disturbed me to edit it. I'm getting tears in my eyes just editing it. I'm thinking about editing it this morning. Let's play that for 30 seconds. It's difficult, only 30 seconds, and then we'll talk about it on the other side.

9:46 Oh, Sheena, what are your thoughts about it spreading to China? I'm really hoping this winning in South Korea will set a precedent for China to change its way and its way of looking at animals and looking at dogs as a consumption meat. And it's just not going to prolong. I feel like it's going to change. Most of the Chinese do not want dog meat to be on their plates. And you cannot really even buy dog meat, just go to a grocery store. I grew up in China. I didn't even know there was dog meat until I actually come to America just a few years ago.

10:29 At the start of 2015, it came to my radar that China is a huge consumption of dog meat. And I was telling people, no, no, it's not happening because I grew up in China, never seen that before. And little do I know, China, certain regions, there's five different regions that have huge consumption of dog meat, including Guangxi, Guangdong province, which is one of the biggest dog meat trays there. It's called Yulin Dog Meat Festival that happens every June during, I think it's the summer solstice. They celebrate that, consume dog meat and lychee wine.

11:12 So I do believe it's going to stop. Young generation do not want to see that happening. Okay, I'm just going to jump out because we've got callers lining up. This has touched a nerve. I want to get to them all. Niloufar in Dallas, Texas, your question or thought for our panel of heroes. Wow, this is huge. It is such a pleasure to meet you all. We just saw that it literally took an act of God to pass this dog meat ban in South Korea. A two-part question, can it be reversed during the three years or if it does move forward, do you expect a weak or strong enforcement of the law?

11:57 Okay, Chris DeRose. I'm going to pass that on to Jian, she's more up on that than I am. And plus I didn't hear the question. Okay, Jian. I think the possibility of getting this ban reversed is almost zero, like close to zero, because this is not just a announcement that a regime made or a policy that government seeks to implement. This is really a law that is now going to be promulgated, that was passed with unanimous voting, almost unanimous voting.

12:48 So we don't have a case where we will have favourable amendments, I would say, to better it and maybe solve some loopholes that we missed last year or this year to make this law pass quickly. Yeah, that's what I think. And also about your enforcement, I would believe this is going to be over 50% enforced.

13:36 If we are talking about from zero to 100% of the satisfactory level of the enforcement, I would say this would stay between 50% to 100%. Because this law was also backed by the ruling People Power Party and for the most thing, the First Lady, which means this government will need to act really strong to implement because they want to take the credit. They don't want to be remembered to South Korean people who, after the law's passage, did a bad job in enforcing this whole thing. And for the most thing, we do have not only Last Chance for Animals and ALW, Animal Liberation Wave on the ground, we do have many local groups who are scattered all over the country.

14:30 So we've got activists, many activists who are really ready to monitor and we're just all over the country. And we are really ready to deliver our strong opinions to the Department of Ministry of Agriculture, who is currently formulating the task force already to really enforce this bill. It's great news that there's going to be enforcement because here in California, we passed Prop 2, we passed Prop 12, no enforcement.

15:11 No enforcement. So what does it mean? Okay, we're going to run through these callers because we've got so many of them. So quick answers, thank you. Rudy in Dallas, Texas, your question or thought? Okay, Rudy, turn down the feed that you're listening to. Thank you. Yeah, I just did. I turned it down. Hello. Yeah. Hi. Greetings from Dallas, Texas. It's freezing over here. But anyway, I've actually been to Korea four times to campaign against dog meat. And I actually met Yujin Lee and Kristen Rose and Kim Basinger back in 2018. They don't remember, but I was there in front of the National Assembly.

15:52 And I've also done work with KBS, Jenny Kim, and also with Hangang with Mr. Wonsoong Park and Ms. Miyambang. And I've been to dog meat farms. And I'm very happy that this bill finally passed. My question is, should they have a three -year transitional period? What I'm afraid of is there's going to be an increase in dog meat farms in order to shut it down. What's the probability of that happening? An excellent question. And, you know, again, thank you for your patience. We have somebody in South Korea, we got somebody in Dallas, Texas. It's the miracle of conversation, but it's not going to be like we're sitting next to each other talking on the couch.

16:33 So basically, what he's saying is, with the three-year transition period, could they ramp up production to try to make some money at the last minute? And what is going to happen to the dogs that are currently behind bars now in these dog farms? Jian, do you want to handle that? Yeah. Yes. This is a question that is raised in South Korea, too. And by the way, I remember you, Rudy. And I would say, on the process of this bill, this law, when it was first introduced, and when it was being discussed in the National Assembly, and in the process, the Ministry of Agriculture has been also delivering their opinion, how they think about this law, the bill, to the National Assembly.

17:29 And hearing that, the content was, the government was really cautious not to hint that they are going to compensate by the number of dogs dog farmers hold in their farms. And not only they are not hinting that this will happen, they are actually really active in speaking to us that they have no plan of really making this happen, like compensating by the number of farms, which means they are also aware of the problem. And I think government is also in the position that if they make this happen, it's going to be a tremendous amount of expenditure.

18:12 It's going to mean a tremendous amount of expenditure that the Ministry of Agriculture will have to be admitted to spend by the Ministry of Finance in South Korea, which is really hard to happen, I would say. So at this point in time, I can't really say that this is going to happen. This is not going to happen, but that's what I got. That's the overall sense that I'm feeling. But then again, of course, the monitoring is really the key, which is why I've been emphasising before that local groups would have to be really investigating. Yeah, so I'm going to go to the next column.

18:55 I hear what you're saying. It's all about enforcement. And you know, somebody just said at an LCA anti-fur demo that she considered herself the anti-fur police because California has passed a ban on the sale of new fur, and she went into some stores on her own and found out that they were still selling new fur, and she contacted LCA, and you guys are taking action on that. Way to go. But when she said we have to be our own fur police, I thought, bingo, that is really true. So when the government isn't doing its job of enforcement, you guys on the ground in South Korea have to go in there and enforce this law, and boy, that's a big job.

19:42 You have done so much already. Paige in Los Angeles, we've got a couple of callers here, so let's race through them. Paige, what do you got to say? Hello. I just wanted to throw this question over to Chris DeRose and say, first of all, hi. Hi, everyone. Thank you so much. It's a huge success. And what had you start, Last Chance for Animals, and how long have you been fighting for this ban? Thank you very much. We've been fighting for the ban cohesively for about six years, but we had been in there doing preliminary research and stuff to see what needed to be done, and that went on for about eight years altogether.

20:25 And then we were in China before that, so we got our licks in China as well. But cohesively, we've been working with ALW for six years, and it's been a real cooperation, and Jian has been great. She's been able to create things to keep it out there, like these banners, like the laser lights, like the demonstrations, the demonstrations with the dead puppies. And we used that, and I modelled that after some other group had done it, and I just said, you know what?

21:07 This works. Let's use it. Let's make it happen. So we kept it out there. It's the thing that we did. We kept this out there so that the government of South Korea didn't think this was just a passing phase. This is something that was going to be here until they changed the law. And it's an embarrassment to the country. Many South Koreans despise this whole dog meat trade. They don't dislike it. They despise it because it makes them look bad. And it's not all Koreans that are bad on this. It's just the minority, but the minority speaks up. And this is what we did. We came in there.

21:47 We spoke up. We had demonstrations. We had them internationally. We had demonstrations at the same time in Washington, D.C. and New York City, Los Angeles, at the Korean consulate here. We had demonstrations everywhere. So wherever the problem was, LCA was there. ALW was there. And as far as enforcement, you could bet your last dollar, I'm going to make sure that the enforcement is taking place. We've had a meeting on this before. We left South Korea a few days ago.

22:29 And it's an understanding now that the GN has and we have that the most important thing now is enforcement and cooperation, cooperation with the NGOs and cooperation with the new bill being passed. I'm going to jump in only because we've got so many callers. I also have a few questions. Thank you, everybody. Sam in Pasadena, your question or thought for our panel of heroes. Hi. Hi. Thank you. Hi, Jane. Thank you so much. Congratulations on such a huge win for dogs and all animals. Thank you all for your dedication and saving dogs.

23:10 It just goes to show that perseverance and persistence can change hearts and minds, even for such a longstanding practise. My question is, what are some of the biggest challenges you guys face when pushing for this dog ban in South Korea? Thank you. Great question. Jian, you want to handle that one? Again, she's speaking for South Korea. The challenges that we faced? Yes. In the past that we, the challenges that we faced is, okay, here's the biggest challenge.

23:50 The MPs, we've got, we had MPs, members in the Parliament, National Assembly, who was willing, who are willing to propose a law about banning the dog meat trade. But then again, it was so hard to make the bill actually get processed, passed in relevant committee, in the first place, which is Agriculture Committee, and proceed to the Judiciary Committee and plenary session. This was because, looking back, it was hard to make the dog meat ban a formal programme, priority policy of any of the two biggest parties that we have.

24:36 But the good thing is, last year, all of a sudden, the situation changed. So there was a, um, instigated by the First Lady's comment, I would say, there was a competition between the ruling People Power Party and the opposition Democratic Party to take this, take their lead on this issue. So that was the success factor that made this passage of dog meat ban that was so much wanted within a year, looking back. Wow. Okay, I'm going to jump in and let's go to more callers. I mean, this has just touched a nerve.

25:19 Sarah in Culver City, your question or thought for our panel of heroes. Yes, I have a question for you. Now that they voted that they don't want to have the dog meat in South Korea, two questions. One, do they breed dogs for this specific thing? Will they shut down all the breeding facilities there? Because that's a huge problem. As we know, the more animals bred is a big problem. So they don't go into shelters and stuff. And then if this is going away in South Korea, what's the time? You know, is it going to be a year from now? Is it immediate? And then do you see that China is going to continue doing this kind of stuff?

26:01 Or do you see like, is there an agreement with shipping these dogs to other countries for dog meat? I just want to know what's going on because it could stop somewhere, but just be going on in another place. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, we do. Excellent questions. Now, we just want to bring you up to date because we've been covering this. It goes into effect in three years. And so that answers that question. But the folks here, the heroes and the activists you see in this video who are celebrating after the vote are not going to just stand by for three years and do nothing. So please tell us what you're going to do in that three year time period.

26:43 And also, yeah, people don't realise that there are farms that breed these dogs, just like in the United States, we have farms that breed cows and pigs. And in fact, there is a huge contingency of people who say, well, isn't this hypocritical? We're factory farming pigs who actually have a higher IQ than dogs, which is not really something that should count at all, but it just happens to be the fact. And look how we keep pigs, okay? We keep pigs in gestation crates, the size of their bodies, unable to turn around and scratch themselves. It is a literally torture device. And Americans are eating an average of 66 .18 pounds of pork per year.

27:29 So there's a very good argument to be made that it's hypocrisy for us to call out another country while we are systematically torturing animals here for food. I'd like to get some round table on that because I think that is a really crucial fact. Now, nobody here on this panel eats animals. So we're not the problem, but it's the people who love dogs and continue to eat other animals that, in my opinion, are the ones who have a disconnect between their views about how animals should be treated and what their actions are. Chris, take it away.

28:10 You know, I wanted to just bring up something that was real important. I didn't want to interrupt you before. The spokesperson for the Ag Committee, he came out and when he announced that they voted on it, first the subcommittee voted on it, and then the Ag Committee voted on it. And both have said, this is going to be a bill that's going to be put into effect. It's going to be a law. And there's no skirting around it because there'll be severe penalties, fines of up to $32 ,000, US dollars. There'll be imprisonment of three years. So they've said some powerful words, which is, I've never heard before in any bill, even the Proposition 2 in California and all these, I've never heard jail sentences and major fines like that.

28:59 And then the committee's coming out and saying that they're going to enforce it. This is not something to play with. This is something that's going to be serious, that they're putting a lot into it. And that's the beauty of the government. Yes, it moves a little bit slower than we activists, but it moves in a cohesive manner. And that's what we need to see. We've got to believe that they're going to tell the truth because their names are on the line. Their reputations are on the line. And it's a bill. It's a law. It's going to be, it's a law. So whatever it is, it's going to be something that needs to be enforced.

29:40 Let me just jump in and say, I would hope that there's a way of approaching these farmers who actually protested and there were fights outside the parliament. We chose not to bring you that, but there were fistfights outside with the dog farmers that farm dogs, just like other people farm pigs here in the United States, saying, it's jobs. You're taking away our jobs, which is always the argument. Throughout time, whether it's civil rights, women's rights, anytime somebody wants to keep power for whatever it is that they're doing, that ends up causing a lot of suffering for somebody else, another being or another person, they always cite jobs.

30:24 This is the first thing. And you know what? There will be new jobs created as people try to have other sorts of food to eat, like plant-based meats, which actually originated in Asia. Tofu has been eaten for centuries in Asia, and it's not something that the United States invented at all. You might say the Asian world is the leader in meat alternatives. Jian? Yes, I totally agree. Yes. Yeah. Well, I mean, no, let me go to Sheena on this. Sheena, there is a sense that people are saying, some people are saying, look, in the United States, we're saying, oh, this is terrible, this is horrible, because we look at dogs as pets, which they also do in South Korea and China as well.

31:17 The pet population is growing rapidly, companion animals, it's a growing industry. But they're also saying there's a certain hypocrisy for people who are eating pigs, saying, how dare you eat dogs? I just want to address that. Yeah, it's definitely, it's a speciesism. Certain animals are to be eaten, others are to be as a pet, like a panda and a pig. I saw a picture before, they said, what's the difference between panda and pig? Just the outer skin, they look the same, actually. So I do believe a lot of people, I transitioned into veganism from fighting against dog meat.

31:59 And in 2016, I've noticed that, I started to fight and then started to connect the thoughts, I realised that meat is meat, animal is animal, they're all the same thing, and just eat one and treat the other one. There's no equality in human or humanity, we should all treat all human beings equally. So we're against dog meat, against pig, eating pig, eating cows, this is just a harm programme. I believe that we should not be eating any living beings. All right, we've got one more caller. Annie and Sherman Oaks, your question or thought for our panel.

32:39 Oh, hi, thank you for this. Oh, my God, I'm so stoked up. Thank you so much, heroes. Appreciate you all for all you do. Chris Zero as well, heroic. I want to ask maybe two part questions. Is there any other bills to try and stop reproduction? Because this had come up earlier from questions of dogs, because these farms are perpetuating. And what was the most powerful, strategic thing that you've done? I know this has been years you've been working on, bless you, heroes in all meanings. But what was the most powerful, strategic thing that you did you feel that was most effective?

33:27 So that we can adapt that. Take it away, Chris. The investigations, the expose of what's going on in the slaughterhouses, what's going on in the dog farms, what's going on in the auction houses. This was constantly gotten out there. And we had cameras inside these places, GoPro cameras that had maybe five or six GoPro cameras going nonstop, nonstop. So we had hundreds of hours of video. And that video really is what shook the world when they saw what was going on in there. And it's unedited. It's nothing that we could say we edited this in there or this out of there, nothing like that.

34:07 And so it was very powerful. And then doing the campaigns on it, setting up a faux dog meat slaughter place in the centre of Seoul and making it look like you're doing exactly what you would be doing with a dog in a slaughterhouse, slamming it down on the ground. But of course, it's a dummy dog. And that was very effective. And then the laser beam on the dome of the Blue House, sending a message in Korean, sending a message that this is wrong and that the government needs to get behind it and ban it once and for all.

34:48 So that's it. So what would you say, Jian, was the most successful strategy? I would pick media presence because government really is very sensitive. Well, both government officials and the members of parliaments are very sensitive to media coverage. So LCA and ALW have been doing two or three campaigns every year, an investigation, getting it out to the major media, that includes TV.

35:31 So I would think that continuous media coverage and public awareness campaigns really piled up to make this change happen. And on this point also, about what Jian explained about race, about what are we going to do with factory farms? Isn't it hypocrisy to ban only dog meat? I totally agree. And what this case that we experienced in South Korea could mean is how I really think, because in South Korea, the anti-movement about dog meat trade is something that happened over the last 30 years by continuous participation of different peoples.

36:20 It just piled up. And what we saw in this country is that public perception opposing the dog meat trade has been slowly rising up. And it's right before the bill's passage just this month, we were seeing absolute amount, 81%, 78% or 9% of South Koreans now for the legal change to ban this, which wasn't the case in five years ago, or 10 years ago, or even 20 years ago. So what this means is how, even if we could think any action by itself doesn't change the world, it just piles up.

37:06 And I think it's really important that we keep on doing this because that changes slowly the people's opinions and their behaviours, and the members of parliament, politicians, governments, they're just always going for these changes in public perception because they want to rule. Yeah, that's what I think. And you see here, this is from South Korea outside the parliament building, after the historic vote was taken, see Chris speaking, you see Jen Lee speaking, you see all of these folks. My thought is, does it change the attitudes of South Koreans toward all animals?

37:49 Is there a growing vegan movement in South Korea, along with a movement toward having dogs as companion animals and showing compassion to dogs? Jian? Sure thing. Animal Liberation Wave is actually on the forefront, really in the forefront, to make this happen in South Korea, because we are renowned in South Korea as a first organisation in the country to put animal liberation on the forefront, to liberate all the species of beings, and to put anti-speciesism on the forefront, and really act, spread words about veganism, how South Korean people should adopt more vegan lifestyle.

38:37 So, and this is also very interesting, is how over the last three or four, no, I would say four to five years, three to four years, that veganism has been appearing a lot in the media stream. So I would say five years ago, when five or six years ago, when we were not existent, we did see in the mainstream media, people talking about vegetarianism. But really, veganism was not there, or even anti-speciesism, or even a word about animal liberation, or the necessity to free these farm animals from exploitation.

39:24 So what's happening now is that if I turn on TV, I could suddenly see vegan cosmetic products being advertised, really. And yes, we are just seeing a growing, fast growing of vegan movement in South Korea. And I've, I've experienced fast growing of young vegans in South Korea, among South Korean young generations. And this is something huge. And I would like to pinpoint that every South Korean think about our country, that when we adopt, when we are willing to adopt any change, this is, we are a small country.

40:07 Go ahead. Sometimes living really fast produces some problems. But a good thing is we're also fascinated with adopting good changes. So that's actually, that's what I got to say to your question. Well, I'd like to say that I have another very special guest who is with me now. And this is one of my two rescue dogs, Wednesday, who was, somebody tried to dump her at a shelter in Los Angeles. And the shelters are so overrun and frankly mismanaged that they actually said, oh no, just take her back where you found her. And luckily a rescuer heard that and rescued her. And now she is my little, my little companion animal.

40:49 But like so many Americans, I love my dogs. You'll meet my other dogs Sunday in a second. I consider dogs the gateway drug to compassion to animals because people love their dogs, like they're their children, because they essentially are their children. I know people who have five or six children, but they always talk about their dogs every time I see them. So let me ask the big question. And I'd like to get a round table from everybody. Chris, as this, in fact, let me play what you said in South Korea about how the world is watching all of this.

41:32 And then we're going to talk about the implications for the world when it comes to compassionate dogs and translating that into compassion for all animals. The world is watching. I say to you again now, the world is watching. The people that have gathered here today have been by no means alone in their fight for the lives of millions of dogs slaughtered every year. So Chris, you said the world is watching. Is the world getting the message that it's not just about dogs in South Korea? That's huge. It's a huge victory, but it's really about all animals everywhere.

42:14 Yes, it is. And especially farm animals, because these dogs on the dog meat slaughter line were raised on farms, in factory farms. And so anything to do with factory farm animals, yes. And I think anything to do with any animals in general, yes. It sends a message. It sends a message, number one, it can be done. It can be done on this scale. And it has been done. Now we've proven it can get done on a national level. And let me tell you, the dog lobbyists, they were very powerful. They were very vocal. They were very in your face on things. But we got just as aggressive, but in a very more of a political way.

42:58 And so, yes, we feel that it's made a difference all around the world. It's like throwing that little pet rock in a lake and it just ripples across the lake and it just has an effect all over the place. So, yes, it's having an effect everywhere. And it's building that momentum up. And it happened at the beginning of the year, 24. And it's very exciting to see that. And then plus, don't forget, enforcement is on everybody, back of everybody's mind. Because like you said before, Jane, we passed these bills and there was no enforcement on them or anything. When we, LCA enforcement, gets a bill passed, we stay behind it.

43:42 We say like, we've been going into these stores on the fur farms, getting fur coats from slaughterhouses and stuff. So, yes, we're going to stay on top of this. We're definitely not going to let go of it. You can rest assured, as sure as we're having this conversation, this is going to continue. The enforcement of this is going to be taken very seriously. Okay. I'm going to jump in because we've got yet another caller. People are just really, wow. Tiffany in Los Angeles, your question or thought for our panel of heroes. Yes, this is great news.

44:22 And thank you, Unchained TV for covering this exciting news. I wanted to ask the Animal Liberation Waves, what is their next, where do they go from here? Do they continue this campaign or what are their next plans? Take it away. For the foremost thing, we would, because after the passage, this is not the end. We do have to spend this three years until the enforcement of the ban, spend it well to really monitor whether or not the transition of dog farms and slaughterhouses, which means shrinking of the dog meat industry that we used to have, is really happening at a satisfactory level.

45:12 And afterwards, when the raising, slaughtering and selling happens, we would need to monitor as you do in LA to monitor fur sales. So yeah, that's one of our missions. That's going to be our continued mission. And also this overlaps with what we are talking about in this show is that we definitely need to take this case to have impact on other farm animals or fur animals, I would say, and spread egonism in South Korea, because every animals are all the same.

45:57 And it's not that only dogs were suffering from farms and systematic exploitation when pigs, cows, chickens are not. Actually, more number of animals are being slaughtered every day in this continued business, bigger industry. So we are, I think we are gearing up for a even bigger fight because it's an industry, the livestock industry, animal agriculture, as it is in the United States and South Korea too. It's another totally bigger scale industry. And we would like to, well, just one more thing. What we're trying to do is make this change in South Korea to have an impact throughout the Southeast Asia and China and Japan too.

46:40 And we are already seeing what we're seeing after the passage of dog meat ban. We are getting foreign coverage about how Indonesia is responding, how people in China is responding, which is, I think South Korea is a country in Asia that is really has powerful movement, civil rights movement. So what we see, what we make in this country, I definitely believe is going to have, is good to have a ripple effect throughout the whole Asia. Yes. And people were asking to meet my other dog. This is my other companion animal, Sunday. And she was rescued on a Sunday and she was found in Arlita running in the rain, no chip, no collar and not spayed.

47:29 Now both my animals are spayed because pet overpopulation is another big aspect of this problem. Obviously. I also want to talk about the dogs that Sheena Gao rescued. She rescues dogs from the dog meat trade in China. I attended one of those events. Let's talk about it on the other side. Come here, babies. Oh, look at these babies all from China rescued from the dog meat trade. They're up for adoption. This one just got adopted by this lovely lady came in from Chicago.

48:11 Oh, baby. Come on, baby. Tell me how you feel about rescuing your dog. I feel, I feel really great. It's, it's very honourable and I feel like I'm on a mission, but I also, I will love the dog and like give her a safe and warm home, make her feel happy. So excellent work, Sheena Gao. You do so much. I have attended so many of your events. I just want to know, how do you get these dogs out of China? Okay. Thank you for the platform. Actually, I want to correct it. I personally do not strictly go to China rescue dogs.

48:54 I work with a lot of rescue groups in China and in Chinese organised rescues in America. So I'll give them a platform to adopt the dogs. I foster them in the airport, pick them up and their organisations. I work on the paperwork for them to go through the whole process of a medical check, plan through CDC to get the dogs here to make sure these dogs are adopted. The one that you saw the last event, I was working with a couple of other Chinese rescue dog groups and they were able to get the dogs here and just looking, loving to get them placed from the meat trade.

49:40 Yeah. And I think that's a really important point. You're part of a much bigger team. I know you do have your own organisation, Mercy for Chinese Dogs, but obviously it takes a village to make these things happen. My last question is, Jian, is there a plan to in any way, try to work with these farms, these so-called farms that are manufacturing these dogs, basically giant breeding facilities to see if there's a way you can get some of these dogs out, maybe help them transition to another line of work. Are you going to dialogue with them at all or is there just too hostility there?

50:21 I think it's a possibility. I do know some farmers who are still working, who are still running their farms, but are also okay to speak with. And the thing is, when you see on the media, you will see only angry farmers. But then again, in South Korea, there are actually quite a bit of farmers who are okay to speak with and who say that if only government compensation or government support is there, it slows down this business early.

51:04 So I think it's going to be another one of our campaign lines to actually speak with these people, how they think now, and hear their opinions. And I think our role is to just be in the middle between the government and these farmers, not only to speak for dogs, of course, we will need to gather stories from underground and just deliver it to the government. Because what we want at the end of the day is to fasten these closure and transition of dog farms into another livelihood.

51:50 If the industry shrinks fast, then we're going to see some effects that's even earlier than the ban even takes place. Yeah. We have only a minute left. Chris, what are your final thoughts on this? And again, wow, well done. Let me just say this. One of the things I feel made this very successful too, is that the people over there and the people that we dealt with as far as NGOs and even the MPs, no one made it a personal thing. No one's lashed back at these dog farmers and made it a personal thing. It's not them that we hate, it's what they're doing that we don't like.

52:33 And that was the focus on all this. And it stayed that way. So it didn't become a personal battle between, I say this about you, and then you say this about me. No, this is about the dog meat trade. It's wrong. It's really wrong. And that's what we stayed focused on. We never got sidetracked on personalities. We never got sidetracked on egos or anything like that. This is what I've always been talking about for the last 45 years. Stay focused on the issue. It's the issue that's going to win. And that's what came about in the forefront of this battle with the dog meat people. We are out of time. I want to thank all of you.

53:14 You truly are my heroes. I would urge everybody watching, please download Unchained TV. We are a nonprofit, the world's only vegan streaming network speaking up for animals. You can download it right on your phone. You can download it on your Samsung TV or via Amazon Fire Stick Roku or Apple TV device. And you can also watch it online at unchainedtv.com. We can't do this without your help. We are completely almost 100% volunteer run. So thank you for joining us. And we will see you next time here on Unchained TV Voice of America podcast. Love you guys.