Expand Criminal Investigation: Elderly Russian Man Charged with Dog Abuse After Eating Dog Meat

On February 10, 2020, the Russian Federal Service for the Supervision of Civil Aviation (FSCA) issued a statement that they had launched a criminal investigation against a 64-year-old man named Nikolai Kim, who is accused of cruel treatment of dogs.

Nikolai Kim lives in Alchoum City. Some neighbors and animal protection organization volunteers said that in recent years, Kim and his 18-year-old daughter Yevlena have kept dozens of dogs in their backyard, and this couple would occasionally kill dogs and eat dog meat, which has affected the lives of neighbors.

In addition, the dogs of Nikolai Kim live in a miserable condition, each dog is tied with a leash and kept in a cage, as if living in a 'dog concentration camp.' Volunteers said that these dogs cannot escape their tragic fate, and what awaits them is slaughter and becoming food.

Animal protection organizations submitted evidence, including conversations with Nikolai Kim regarding their efforts to rescue puppies. Nikolai Kim denied killing a large number of dogs, stating that the limited dogs he killed were mainly small puppies, not large dogs.

In response to the questions of animal protection organizations, Nikolai Kim said that he was sick and shivering, needing to eat dog meat to warm his stomach. He also told the volunteers that all Koreans eat dog meat.

Some neighbors defended Nikolai Kim, saying that Kim may indeed eat dog meat, but they hadn't seen this Korean-Russian man kill dogs. Many addicts and alcoholics often bring dogs to Kim's place to sell for money.

Some activists fighting for animal rights were also excessive. Neighbors said that animal protection organization people 'rescued' dogs from Kim's place by taking dogs, threatening with guns, and assaulting him. A 60-year-old man, if he hadn't done bad things, pointing a gun at someone is inappropriate. (February 11, 2020, by Liu Peng)