It’s always been controversial for dog meat and farms to be a thing in South Korea. Even among their own population.
Thankfully, though the local laws make shutting down farms difficult, more and more organizations are rising up against them.
Just recently, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon announced that he was banning farms within the city.
The Mayor has long been an advocate of animal rights and is pushing for more people to adopt rescued dogs.
Slaughterhouses within the capital city will be shutdown or forced to relocate.
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Meanwhile, animal rescue groups have been hard at work closing and rescuing animals from active farms.
Even though dog meat is becoming less popular in South Korea, keeping dogs as pets has become more so. This means that many of the farms work with or double as puppy mills.
Those dogs who don’t get chosen to be family pets are doomed for the slaughterhouse.
Which I think we can all agree is THE WORST.
That’s why it’s so great to hear when one of the farms is shut down and with the advent of simple live streaming, we can even watch it go down.
That’s what Humane Society International has been doing this week.
On February 11th, they landed in South Korea ready to save nearly 200 dogs from a single farm.
Throughout the process, they’ve been sharing it on Facebook Live, letting the world watch as they remove the dogs from their cold metal cages and prep them for transport to Canada for rehabilitation.
The first dog to be rescued is named Billy.
Though they can’t be sure absolutely about breed beyond that he’s purebred, he looks so much like my shih tzu Basil that I had to give my boy a good cuddle after watching the video.
The rescue and shutdown will take about a week.
Once all the animals are safely removed, the cages will be demolished and the property can never be used as a dog mill again.
The owner has signed a binding agreement preventing him from being involved with the trade for 20 years.
In the video, you can see how sad and skinny the dogs are.
Though straw can be seen strewn in the bottom of the cages, that was added by HSI. When they arrived, the puppers were struggling with sore paws on cold metal and the straw helps give them some comfort while they wait for their turn.
It’s just so incredible to watch how the dogs react to positive human contact.
Winnie the corgi is clearly anxious and afraid, but also wants belly rubs and to play a little bit.
I’m sure she, Billy, and all the other dogs will find wonderful homes in North America.
