An owner of a dog meat stall at Gyeongdong Market in Seoul's Dongdaemun District prepares for the shop's lunch-hour operation, Nov. 2, 2024. The man has been running the store since the 1960s. Korea Times file

Four out of 10 dog meat farms in Korea have voluntarily shut down following the government's declaration that dog meat trade will no longer be legal starting 2027, the government said Sunday.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, 623 local dog meat farms have voluntarily shut down since a special law banning raising and slaughtering dogs for food purposes was enacted in August. The figure accounts for 40 percent of the total 1,537 registered dog meat farms in the country.

Among the closed farms, small-size farms, which cages 300 or fewer dogs, accounted for the most closures, with 449. Among medium-size farms, handling 300 to 1,000 dogs, 153 have closed, and 21 large-size farms, carrying over 1,000 dogs, have reported their shutdown.

The government aims to eradicate all dog meat trade in the country, including farming and distribution, before the start of 2027. To reach this goal, authorities are currently encouraging all local dog meat traders to voluntarily terminate their businesses.

The ministry anticipates that approximately 938 farms, or about 60 percent of all dog meat farms, will shut down by the end of this year.

To support dog meat businesses that have conformed to the upcoming law, the government said it is providing easy guidelines for the closure of their businesses, as well as consultations and other assistance for starting new ventures.

As for those who have been delaying the closure of their dog meat farms, the authority said it will regularly monitor their businesses to find any change in their sites — the size of farm, number of dogs — and update them with possible government support to persuade them into an earlier shutdown of their business.

"It is the ministry's intention to provide support and at the same time strictly monitor the market so that every single dog meat farm in this country either shuts itself down or transitions its business to other fields by 2027," said Park Jung-hoon, chief of the ministry's Animal Welfare and Environment Policy Bureau. "We want support from the country's dog meat business owners so that Korea can become an advanced nation with regard to animal welfare."

The government said dogs left behind after a farm's closure will be managed by local animal shelters. If shelter capacity is insufficient, the remaining dogs will temporarily stay on the farms under government supervision.

The National Assembly in January 2024 passed the Special Act on the Breeding, Slaughter and Distribution of Dogs for Food. The government announced the law's enforcement decrees in August, starting to advise local dog meat traders to shut down before it would take effect on Feb. 7, 2027.

Government compensation for the businesses included financial support for farm owners based on the timing of their closure, with compensation ranging from 225,000 won ($154) to 600,000 won per dog.

Despite several attempts by previous administrations to enact a related law and the growing sentiment against dog meat among Koreans, legislative efforts did not gain momentum, as lawmakers felt pressured to deem illegal a practice that was already becoming less common.

Farm owners and dog meat vendors also expressed their concerns about their livelihoods and the challenges of managing the hundreds of thousands of dogs currently on farms.

Administrative efforts picked up speed during the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, under the strong endorsement by the president and his wife Kim Keon Hee.