Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with his counterparts in (a) China, (b) Vietnam and (c) South Korea about the dog meat trade in those countries.

Mr Hugo Swire

The Government is committed to raising the standards of animal welfare at home and abroad. Whilst there are no international norms, laws or agreements governing the trade and consumption of dog meat, we believe it is necessary to work with governments to gain agreement on animal welfare standards and phase out cruel and inhuman farming practices.

I raised the importance of animal welfare with the Vietnamese government during my visit in February. Our Ambassador in Seoul has raised the issue of cruelty related to the dog meat trade with the South Korean authorities, explaining that UK Parliamentarians and the public would like to see regulation that would bring this to an end. Ministers have also raised the issue with Chinese counterparts, and we continue to work alongside the authorities there to help protect the welfare of stray animals.

I will be writing to all relevant Ambassadors about this issue in due course and the Government will consider a review of how we interact with various international organisations on dog meat consumption, specifically on the issue of health.