'I got it as a gift and didn't think I could raise it'

Not related to this article. [Image generated with AI]
Not related to this article. [Image generated with AI]

A family's pet dog, left in the care of a longtime acquaintance over the weekend, was slaughtered and turned into a traditional herbal tonic, according to a report aired Friday.

SBS's "News Hunters" reported that a family running an auto repair shop in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, left their dog, Osuni, with B, the owner of a client business, on Oct. 31.

Osuni was a Jindo-retriever mix. The family had taken in the two-month-old puppy last May and completed the dog's official registration.

B had repeatedly asked to take Osuni home, saying each time the dog came up that he wanted to raise it himself.

After persistent requests, the family agreed to let B look after Osuni for the weekend only.

Less than two hours after handing over the dog, the family tried calling B but got no answer. When B finally responded, he first claimed Osuni had gone missing, then changed his story and said he had given the dog to someone else.

Only after the family filed a police report did B admit he had taken Osuni to a health tonic shop.

The shop owner said B had introduced Osuni as his own dog and paid 300,000 won ($225) to have the tonic made.

The tonic, known as "gaesoju," is a traditional remedy made by boiling a dog with herbal medicine to extract the liquid.

When the family confronted B, he claimed the dog had been given to him as a gift. "I didn't think I could raise it, so I just had it made into gaesoju," he said. "I didn't eat any of it."

The family rebuffed the claim. "We never gave it to him. We only lent Osuni for the weekend, and we sent multiple text messages trying to get the dog back," they said.

About 20 people — including employees of the auto shop and nearby residents — signed a petition calling for B and others involved to be severely punished.


jshan@heraldcorp.com