Nureongi

Nureongi (누렁이)

Country of origin	Korea
Traits Color yellow
Classification and standards
Dog (Canis lupus familiaris)

Nureongi
Hangul	누렁이, 황구
Hanja	黃狗
Revised Romanization	Nureongi
McCune–Reischauer	Nurŏngi

The Nureongi also spelled Noo-rung-yee^[1][2] is a yellowish dog landrace from Korea. It is most often used as a livestock dog, raised for its meat and not commonly kept as a pet.

Terminology

This dog has no formal name. "Nureongi" (누렁이) and "hwangu" (황구; 黃狗) are informal Korean words meaning "yellow one", and might best translate as "Brownie" or "Blackie", if those referred to a yellow animal, somewhat as the word "Yeller" has been used as a name for any yellow animal in English. ^[3]. Another common term is the Korean slang "ddong-gae" (똥개), meaning "dung dogs" or "shit dog", which refers to the common dogs' habit of eating feces.^[4][5] The dogs are generally considered by Koreans to be "mutts", "mongrels", or "curs" and are not normally allowed into the home.

The Korean culture and language distinguishes between these dogs and pet dogs. Chinese pet dogs such as Pekingese and beloved Korean hunting dogs such as the Jindo are spoken of using words of Chinese origin, "견" and "犬", whereas Free-ranging urban dogs, wolves, and meat dogs are thought of as mere "구" or 狗". Only the latter has been used for foodstocks.

"Hwangu"(yellow dog) has been considered better for food than "baekgu" (white dog) and "heukgu" (black dog).^[6].

In 2008, the Korean government discussed a proposal to legalize the meat dog trade by formally recognizing these dogs as "livestock". ^[3] The proposal was not adopted.

Description and Population Size

In a study about dog and cat meat consumption in South Korea, Anthony Podberscek of Cambridge University's Department of Veterinary Medicine notes that, while other kinds of dogs are also farmed and eaten, nureongi (yellow dog) is most common dog used in this way. He describes them as "mid-sized, short haired, and yellow furred," notes that they "are not normally kept as pets," ^[7] and includes a photograph in which the specific dogs he refers to as “nureongi”, which he also calls "meat dogs," can be seen in the background, caged in an open-air meat market in South Korea. The dogs are quite uniform in appearance, medium-sized spitz-types with short yellow hair and melanistic masks. ^[8]

In a paper arguing in favor of dog meat consumption in South Korea, Dr. Ahn Yong Geun, (Ph.D. biology, Osaka City University, Japan, current Professor in Food and Nutrition in Cheung Chong University) in South Korea, asserts the existence of a "unique" Korean livestock dog "specifically bred and raised as food", which he does not name or describe, which is not the same as the pet dogs Koreans keep and love and treat as family members. He cites evidence from Statistics Korea giving his reader some idea of how many such dogs there are. As of 1998, there were 2,246,357 dogs in Korea, but only 882,482 households with pet dogs, and as most Korean pet owners don't have more than one dog, we can conclude that the "unique" Korean livestock dog must have outnumbered all other kinds of dogs that lived in Korea in that year. ^[9]

See also

• Yellow Dog
• Dog meat

References

1. ^ Morris, Desmond (2008). Dogs: The Ultimate Dictionary of Over 1,000 Dog Breeds. Trafalgar Square. ISBN 1570764107. http://books.google.com/books?id=IjG-LAAACAAJ&hl=en. 
2. ^ "Dogs : the ultimate dictionary of over 1,000 dog breeds". WorldCat. http://www.worldcat.org/title/dogs-the-ultimate-dictionary-of-over-1000-dog-breeds/oclc/49515650&referer=brief_results. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Lee, Brian "Dogs May Be Designated as Livestock" JoongAng Daily, April 12, 2008
4. ^ Kim, Rakhyun E. (2008). "Dog Meat in Korea: A Socio-Legal Challenge". Animal Law 14 (2): 205. http://208.109.169.73/journals/jo_pdf/lralvol14_2_201.pdf#page=5&search=ddong-gae. 
5. ^ "똥개 [ddong-gae]". Naver Korean dictionary. http://krdic.naver.com/search.nhn?query_euckr=&query_utf=&isOnlyViewEE=&q=&dic_where=krdic&query=%EB%98%A5%EA%B0%9C&x=16&y=10. "1. Poop eating mutts 2. Dogs eating and surviving on shit" 
6. ^ S. Huh. (2004, p.83). 비주, 숨겨진 우리 술을 찾아서 [Rediscovering Korean liquors]. Pajoo, Korea: Woongjin Thinkbig. ISBN 8901047209
7. ^ Podberscek 2009 pp. 615–632
8. ^ Podberscek 2009 p. 623
9. ^ [1], first paragraph of 4th Section "Result", line 68.

• Podberscek, Anthony L. (2009). "Good to Pet and Eat: The Keeping and Consuming of Dogs and Cats in South Korea". Journal of Social Issues 65 (3): 615–632. doi:10.1111/j.1540-4560.2009.01616.x. http://www.animalsandsociety.org/assets/265_podberscek.pdf.