North Korea Bans Citizens from Keeping Dogs, Reasons are Surprising

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Not long ago, the North Korean government announced a new regulation, namely a ban on keeping dogs. According to them keeping dogs is non-socialist behavior.

“In view of the increasing number of families who have pet dogs at home, the Socialist Women's Union of Korea recently informed its members that treating dogs as family members who eat and sleep with them is incompatible with the socialist lifestyle,” said an unnamed source to Daily NK on March 8 last.

In fact, the habit of North Korean people keeping dogs has been around since the early 2000s. Generally, these furry animals are kept as guard dogs to protect themselves and their property from thieves.

“There have always been families who have cats to catch mice, but not many families have dogs. But the number of people who own dogs is gradually increasing, and recently there has been a marked increase in foreign dog breeds such as Pomeranians and Shih Tzus, which used to be a rare sight in North Korea,” the source said.

North Korean authorities responded by condemning pet dog ownership as un-socialist behavior, but this had little effect. Recently, authorities have taken more proactive steps to ban pet dogs.

The North Koreans have created a narrative that the practice of dressing dogs as if they were humans, putting pretty ribbons in their fur, and burying them when they die is a bourgeois activity.

“Dogs are essentially meat that is raised outside according to its nature and then eaten when it dies. Therefore, such behavior is completely unsocialist and should be avoided,” the authority said.

The authorities also explicitly say that the purpose of keeping dogs is permissible as long as the purpose is to eat their meat or take their fur for clothing and so on.

Women's union members were also warned that the fact that more and more people are keeping dogs at home in defiance of government orders to keep dogs for their skins is a problem.

The South Pyongan Province branch of the North Korean Socialist Women's Union also issued threats to its members who own pet dogs, the source said.

However, some union members who have pet dogs disagree and even cry.

“What should I do with the dog I love so much? I can't just kill him, and I can't just abandon him,” said one woman.

[Gambas:Video CNBC]

(hsy/hsy)