Mick Hartley

From the Chosun Ilbo:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il spends hundreds of thousands of dollars importing and looking after his pedigree dogs while the country is making increasingly desperate requests for food aid to feed its starving people.

A source on Tuesday said the regime imports dozens of German Shepherds, Shi Tzus and other pet dogs from France and Switzerland every year as well as expensive pet shampoo and veterinary equipment and supplies. It "frequently flies in a veterinarian from France to check up on the dogs," the source added, paying altogether US$10,000 for the air fare and fees….

An equal-opportunities pet lover, Kim also has cats and parrots. A government source said, "If it saved the $100 million spent each year to buy luxury goods, North Korea could buy 200,000 tons of rice," or one fifth of its annual shortfall of a million tons. Kim Jong-il is said to have a slush fund totaling $4 billion squirreled away in offshore accounts.

Why dozens of pedigree German Shepherds, Shi Tzus, etc.? How many does he need? Unless…