South Korean police say they are investigating accusations that four men killed someone’s missing sheepdog before eating it in a case that has infuriated many and caused debate on the country’s dog-eating culture.

Police official Choi Won-kyu, from the rural city of Iksan, said Friday the men admitted to butchering and eating the dog but they said they found it dead on the side of the road.

Choi says a witness claimed seeing the dog hurt but alive hours before the men butchered it.

Although the popularity of eating dog meat is fading somewhat in South Korea, an estimated 2 million dogs are still slaughtered every year for food.