A South Korean court ruled for the first time that it’s illegal to kill dogs for their meat, a decision that activists hope will pave the way to making the controversial practice illegal, reports said.

Long shrouded in a gray area of cultural relativism, eating dogs has become a taboo in the country as younger generations gravitate closer to the Western belief that a pooch is man’s best friend, rather than a tasty delicacy, according to AFP.

Still, lawmakers have hesitated to outright ban the practice and have instead acted with weaker regulatory laws, such as hygiene regulations or measures that ban cruel slaughter methods, the outlet said.

“It is very significant in that it is the first court decision that killing dogs for dog meat is illegal itself,” according to Kim Kyung-eun, a lawyer with the animal rights organization Coexistence of Animal Rights on Earth.

She added the precedent has “paved the way for outlawing dog meat consumption entirely.”

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