Fifa president Sepp Blatter has called on 2002 World Cup co-hosts South Korea to stop its people ‘mistreating and eating dogs’.

Blatters appeal came after thousands of letters from members of the public, especially from Britain and the USA, poured into Fifa headquarters, reports BBC Online.

South Korea banned restaurants from offering dog during the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul but spicy dog soup is still very popular, especially among older men. Dog meat is believed by Koreans to improve strength and virility by Koreans and dogs are bred especially for food.

Under methods now officially banned, dogs were hung or beaten with bats to soften their flesh before slaughter - usually by electric shock - but these laws too have been ignored of late. Fifa said dogs were still being tortured, despite laws banning the mistreatment of animals.

Blatter has written to Fifa vice president Dr Chung Mong-Joon, who is president of the South Korean FA and a Korean MP, requesting “immediate and decisive measures to put an immediate end to this cruelty.”