South Korean restaurants are defying Olympic orders to stop serving dog meat

A dog meat farm in South Korea.Woohae Cho / AP Images

Some South Korean restaurants are resisting government requests to stop serving dishes that include dog meat during the Olympic Games.
Local authorities in Pyeongchang county have offered subsidies to restaurants who comply, but only two of the 12 restaurants that serve dog meat have reportedly accepted the subsidies.
Some South Koreans believe dog meat has special health benefits, but the country is gradually beginning to consider dogs as pets rather than food.

As the opening ceremony for the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea nears, local authorities are attempting to make the city's cuisine more appealing to foreigners.

But some restaurants are resisting.

At issue is a request from local authorities that restaurants in Pyeongchang county temporarily stop serving dishes that include dog meat during the Olympic Games. Authorities have offered subsidies to restaurants that comply, but only two of the 12 restaurants that serve dog meat have accepted the subsidies, the Daily Mail reports.

Other restaurants have reportedly insisted that taking dog-based dishes off of their menus, even for a short amount of time, has hurt sales.

Some South Koreans believe dog meat has special health benefits, but that perception may be shifting as the country begins to consider dogs as pets rather than food. According to the Daily Mail, dog meat has been designated as "detestable" in Seoul, but that designation doesn't restrict restaurants from serving it.

The shift in attitudes is good news to activists who have encouraged boycotts of the 2018 Olympics to protest the practice of eating dog meat.

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