200 more dogs saved from South Korea’s dog meat trade

By Alicia Graef from Care2

Rescuers are celebrating another successful operation that will be giving 200 dogs and puppies from South Korea’s dog meat trade entirely new lives.

The latest mission, which was just carried out by Humane Society International (HSI), marks the 14th dog meat farm the organization has helped close down in the country, where an estimated 2.5 million dogs are raised and killed every year for meat.

Credit: Jean Chung/HSI

Although HSI has encountered a variety of breeds and ages during its previous rescue operations, along with horrifying conditions dogs are kept in, this is the first time the organization has discovered a dog meat farm where puppies were also being bred for the pet trade – highlighting the bizarre connection between the two industries.

Credit: Jean Chung/HSI

For each individual dog at this farm, their future would be determined only by whether they could be sold for more as a pet, or for meat.

Credit: Jean Chung/HSI

“The lines between puppy mills and dog meat farms are routinely blurred throughout South Korea, and with our latest dog farm closure we are exposing the shocking reality of that. These dogs are suffering at the hands of two abusive industries, their ultimate fate depending on whether they will sell for more money as a pet or for meat. They all start life in this depressing, squalid place, with the lucky few ending up being a loved companion whilst their cage mates are served at a restaurant or enter a chain of auctions where they are sold on to the next farmer to produce litter after litter of puppies,” saidNara Kim, HSI/Korea’s dog meat campaigner.

Credit: Jean Chung/HSI

“Korean consumers will be shocked to see that the dog meat they buy in restaurants or from markets could come from the very same dogs they see in the pet shop window. No matter where the dogs go, the conditions at this farm are horrifying. The emaciated dogs have matted fur and untreated wounds. We found them cowering in rusty cages as they endure the bitter cold of the Korean winter. It is an immense relief to be able to rescue them and fly them to North America where we can work with partner organizations and begin their search for adoptive families. For them the nightmare is over, and we hope that by exposing their suffering we can hasten the end of the entire industry for good,” added Kim.

Credit: Jean Chung/HSI

According to HSI, in this case it was a farmer who had been running the business for eight years, who said he was ashamed to be doing what he was doing, and that it was becoming increasingly unprofitable, but he didn’t have a way out until he heard about HSI’s program to help dog meat farmers close their businesses and transition to other lines of work.

Credit: Jean Chung/HSI

Thanks to this cooperative partnership, HSI will be financing computer literacy training so the farmer can become a security guard, and the dogs will be starting over in entirely new lives.

Credit: Jean Chung/HSI

The majority of the dogs, who include Chihuahuas, corgis, huskies, jindos, Yorkshire terriers, poodles, Pomeranians, shih tzus, and French bulldogs, are headed to shelters inCanada where they’ll get the care they need and time to adjust before being adopted into forever homes.

Credit: Jean Chung/HSI

Along with the dogs, three pigs who lived on the farm were also rescued. They were originally bred for the pet trade as mini-pigs, but they far outgrew that title and their future wasn’t looking promising. Now, they’ll be spending their days at a sanctuary being established by HSI’s partner organization Korea Animal Rights Advocates (KARA).

Credit: Jean Chung/HSI

While there is still a lot to be done to close this industry down for good, progress is being made and public opposition there has continued to grow, while HSI hopes to use the model it’s developed to close down the remaining farms there for good.

For more on this story go to: https://www.care2.com/causes/200-more-dogs-saved-from-south-koreas-dog-meat-trade.html