Ms Lola Webber of the Humane Society International (HSI) comforting a dog in a cage during a publicised rescue event yesterday involving the closure of a dog farm in Wonju, south-east of Seoul.

The business was the fifth and the largest dog meat farm to be closed down by the United States-based HSI. The animals were being transported to the US.

The dogs on the farm, one of thousands across the country, were bred specifically for consumption, and confined in their cages from birth until they are slaughtered for their meat.

South Koreans are believed to consume somewhere between 1.5 million and 2.5 million dogs every year, but the meat farming industry is in decline, with little demand among the younger generation.