According to Sun UK, the North Korean Government has ordered citizens to submit their pet dogs to be used as food.

The pet dogs are slaughtered in restaurants and used as dog meat while others are deposited to the National Zoo.

North Korean Supreme Leader, Kim Jong Un is said to have embarked on the move amid shortage of food in the country.

A source told the English edition of Chosun Ilbo, a South Korean newspaper, that Kim believes dogs are “a ‘tainted’ trend by bourgeouis ideology”.

Dog meat is popular in parts of China and on the Korean Peninsula, although consumption is on the decline in South Korea.

A source quoted by Chosun Ilbo said some of the dogs are being sent to restaurants.

“Ordinary people raise pigs and livestock on their porches, but high-ranking officials and the wealthy own pet dogs, which stoked some resentment.

“Authorities have identified households with pet dogs and are forcing them to give them up or forcefully confiscating them and putting them down.”

Some dog owners have even expressed concerns about the motives behind the order, which was issued last month.

They have been “cursing Kim Jong Un behind his back,” the source said, but admitted their hands are tied.

In 2018, it was reported that consumption of dog had increased in North Korea during the summer heat.

Last week, Kim said he would refuse outside aid to help North Korea deal with the coronavirus.

Pet ownership used to be viewed as western decadence by the North Korean authorities, the Chosun Ilbo reported.

But attitudes appear to have relaxed when the North hosted the World Festival of Youth and Students in 1989.

After that, the Pyongyang elite started flaunting expensive dogs as status symbols.

Some dog owners have expressed concerns that the dog round-up could be a way of addressing food shortages in North Korea.

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