Perilous
Times, False Religions, False gods
South Korean Buddhists pray for dead animals
By HAERAN HYUN
The Associated Press
Wednesday, January 19, 2011; 5:43 AM
SEOUL, South Korea -- Hundreds of South Korean Buddhist monks and
believers offered prayers Wednesday for more than 1.93 million
cows, pigs and other animals that have been put to death in the
country's worst outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.
The Buddhists endured subfreezing temperatures to hold the rite at
Jogye Temple, the headquarters of the Jogye Order, South Korea's
largest Buddhist sect.
Some monks clad in gray and saffron robes offered white
chrysanthemums - a traditional Korean symbol of grief - and bowed
in front of photos of animals inside the temple in central Seoul.
They also bowed toward two big golden statues of Buddha and
chanted sutras before circling around a pagoda and burning
mortuary tablets and incense.
The animals - mostly pigs - have been killed in an attempt to halt
the outbreak, which was reported in November, according to the
Ministry of Public Administration and Security.
The highly infectious disease is often fatal for cloven-hoofed
animals including cows, sheep, pigs and goats, causing blisters on
the mouth and feet.
A monk named Hyechong said the temple held the rite to help guide
the spirits of the animals to heaven.
"We have to do our best to make animals infected with
foot-and-mouth disease die peacefully with the help of the
government and citizen's groups," he said, alluding to criticism
that animals have been inhumanely killed.
Quarantine workers have administered muscle relaxants before
killing the animals and burying them, said Park Yong-wook, a
ministry official handling the issue. He said authorities
vaccinated more than 4.6 million cows and pigs as part of efforts
to halt the outbreak.
However, animal rights activists claimed that most of the pigs
were buried alive. "We should not kill animals in this way," said
Lee Won-bok, head of the Korea Association for Animal Protection.
A group of about 10 activists dressed in white and wearing animal
masks in central Seoul called on the government to introduce more
humane ways to kill the animals, said Gail Jun, an official of the
Korean Animal Welfare Association.
After praying at the temple, Park Young-hae, 74, wrote a message
of condolence on a small, white banner and attached it to a
bulletin board. "I hope that the dead animals will go to
paradise," she said.
Another banner read: "It must have been painful and you cried a
lot. I hope that you go to a good place and enjoy happiness."
The disease last hit South Korea in January 2010 - for the first
time in eight years - when more than 55,800 pigs and cows were
killed, the ministry said.
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Associated Press writer Kim Kwang-tae contributed to this report.