Some 35 religious groups from Protestant, Catholic, Buddhist, Cheondo Religion and Won-Buddhist organizations on Wednesday criticized the government for burying animals alive and called for improvement in the burial process as the nation is suffering from widespread foot-and-mouth disease (FMD).
"The spread of contagious animal disease has not slowed down even though over 3 million livestock have been destroyed," said the religious bodies in a joint message.
They released a video clip that showed some 1,900 pigs being buried alive in a site near Seoul in Gyeonggi Province.
"We disclose the footage to call for improved measures of culling animals," the message said.
According to quarantine rules, officials should render diseased animals unconscious with euthanasia drug before burying them, but live burials were spotted in some landfills, it noted.
The religious groups said they will hold a memorial service for the dead animals next week in Seoul.
Since the first outbreak was confirmed on Nov. 29, a record 3.39 million pigs, cattle, goats and deer have been destroyed, while Seoul started to vaccinate all 13 million livestock in the country after initial quarantine measures proved ineffective.