From Dog Meat Farm to Fairy Tale Ending

It’s been nearly 4 months since our latest dog meat farm shut down in Siheung, Korea but it certainly feels like much longer. While we have been busy meeting the medical and training needs of some of our rescues, 12 of our dogs from this particular rescue mission have also been busy enjoying their new lives with their forever families in Toronto, Vancouver, and Seattle.

After passing their medical checkups and behavioral assessments, we began the process of finding their forever homes. When we first met these dogs at the dog meat farm, and subsequently got to know them better at our partner boarding house, we were already impressed by how well they were adjusting to all the changes. But the degree of adaptability was beyond our imagination.

The Sihueng dog meat farm owner operated his business with a high turnover – he would breed young dogs as soon as they came into heat. Once the dogs reached the “ripe” age of 2, they were sold off to the dog meat market and other traders. As such, we could confidently assume our dogs were born on the farm and given little socialization, much less positive encounters, with humans. Coming from such a neglectful background, we expected dogs with a lot of fear, anxiety, and responsive behaviors as a result of their trauma.

Yet, what we experienced was something entirely different. Here we had dogs who craved human attention and couldn’t seem to get enough of it. They flopped over on their backs and offered belly rubs to anyone who would give them. Some loved their humans so much that they whined and cried when people weren’t in sight. They approached new experiences with more curiosity and mischief rather than fear.

But no, not everything was entirely sunshine and rainbows. Big changes obviously come with an adjustment, for any dog or living creature, but even then, they have faced everything head-on with such resilience and determination we cannot help but admire their strength. Our hearts grow as we continue to see them thrive.