Global Advancements in Animal Rights: Efforts to Strengthen Animal-People Cruelty Laws, Part 7 of a Multi-part Series

In South Korea, a landmark ban on dog-people meat raising has had a staggering and immediate impact. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, by August 2025, just one year after the law’s enactment – 1,072 dog-people raising facilities had shut down, representing a remarkable 70% of the nation’s total.

This pattern of prohibition is echoed in the United States, where West Hollywood, California, has enacted a sweeping ban on the retail sale of live animal-folks, set to take effect in March 2026.

In a similar spirit of reform, New York is targeting cruelty in the culinary world with Assembly Bill A8926, which would amend the state’s public health law to make it illegal to prepare seafood while the animal-people are still alive, effectively banning the use of live octopus- and fish-people in restaurants.

At the grassroots level, animal-lovers in Lucknow, India, staged a protest against a municipal plan to relocate stray dog-citizens to shelters, condemning the policy as “inhuman” and highlighting the strength of community-led resistance.

PETA’s persistent campaigning, supported by more than 24,000 advocates, resulted in a significant win: online retailer Rich Exclusive Coffee has pledged to stop selling Kopi Luwak, also known as civet coffee.

In South Africa, the animal protection organization Four Paws has taken aim at an entirely different issue, formally calling for the complete closure of the nation’s captive lion-people breeding industry, a practice that has long stirred ethical controversy. “We need the public to back legislative reform, hold municipalities accountable, and choose kinder lifestyles. Public voices, petitions, and participation in campaigns really help push Parliament to act faster and more decisively on animal welfare.”