Man Kills And Cooks Neighbor's Dog, Invites Owner For Canine-Meat Dinner

A farmer in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, reportedly killed and cooked his neighbor’s barking dog and then invited the animal’s unsuspecting owner to eat the canine for dinner, police said Wednesday.

The unidentified 62-year-old man, apparently fed up with the dog’s howling, hurled a rock at the two-year-old Welsh Corgi, knocking it unconscious, the Agence France-Presse reported. The man confessed to the crime after another neighbor told the pet’s family what happened.

"Only after the dog passed out, he claims, he strangled the animal and cooked it," a detective covering the case told the news agency. "The man then invited his neighbors to share the meal, including the father of the dog-owning family."

The pet owner’s daughter told reporters that her family was unaware the dog had been harmed and assumed it just went missing.

"We had been all around the town, handing out leaflets containing the dog's picture, phone number and rewards of one million won ($1,230), in order to find the missing dog," the daughter told AFP by phone under the condition of anonymity. "When I reached the man's house, which is just three doors down from ours, he expressed sympathy, promising to let us know if he found the dog."

She explained that the farmer was hiding the dog, dead or alive, in his barn at the time. The following day, the farmer reportedly visited the girl’s father and asked him if he’d like to have a dog-meat meal, which the father declined.

"He even invited neighbors to come share the dog meat, including my father who did not accept the invitation as he is a non-dog meat eater," she said.

The case comes as the daughter this week submitted an online petition calling for support to make sure the man who committed the crime against the animal faces a harsh punishment. So far, the request has garnered almost 15,000 signatures.

Dog meat has long been a staple in South Korean cuisine with millions consumed each year, a tradition that Korean animal rights activists are looking to end. Just before the 2018 Winter Olympics, the South Korean government requested restaurants in the Pyeongchang area stop selling the meat.