A final farm rescue as South Korea's dog meat trade nears end
On Tuesday, rescue workers arrived at this farm in rural Gangjin County, some 225 miles south of Seoul, to take the remaining animals away. Transport crates stood ready with names given to the dogs by their rescuers: Yuki, Haewon, Casper, Kelly, Prince.
The operation marked global nonprofit Humane World for Animals' final large-scale dog meat farm rescue in South Korea, where a nationwide ban on breeding, slaughtering, distributing and selling dogs for human consumption takes full effect in February.
Parliament passed the legislation in January 2024, giving the industry until February 2027 to wind down, with closure payments favoring farmers who exited earlier and support for eligible businesses to change livelihoods.
"It isn't a day, if I'm really honest, I ever imagined would come," Wendy Higgins, the organization's director of international media, told UPI at the farm.
Higgins said skeptics dismissed its ambition to help end an industry that had persisted for generations.
"I thought it would take a lot longer," Higgins said. "I am really proud of how responsive this South Korean government has been when there was a real turning point in public opinion."
Dog meat, typically served in a stew called bosintang, is traditionally associated with Bok Nal -- the three hottest days of Korea's summer calendar -- when some diners believe it helps restore strength.
But consumption has long fallen out of favor, particularly among younger South Koreans.
A December 2023 survey by Seoul-based animal rights group Aware found that some 82% of respondents supported a ban and more than 93% said they had no intention of eating dog meat in the future.
Building political consensus proved challenging, however. Former President Moon Jae-in raised the possibility of a ban in 2021, but a government task force struggled to reach agreement over compensation and the phaseout period.
Lawmakers from both major parties proposed bans in 2023, while then-first lady Kim Keon Hee repeatedly voiced support for ending the trade. The National Assembly voted unanimously to pass the landmark special bill the following January.
The Agriculture Ministry said in September 2024 that nearly 5,900 businesses, including farms, slaughterhouses, traders and restaurants, had submitted plans to close or change their operations.
By May this year, 1,265 of South Korea's 1,537 registered dog meat farms had closed, leaving 272, the ministry said.
Many dogs still left behind
Humane World has rescued nearly 3,000 dogs from South Korean meat farms since 2015. Its Gangjin operation saved more than 70, including mothers and puppies moved to safety before workers removed the final 38 on Tuesday.
For most dogs on closing farms, however, the shutdown has not brought rescue.
Of nearly 394,000 dogs recorded on farms that had closed by December 2025, only about 1,100 were adopted or transferred to public shelters, local media reports citing government data said. Roughly 97% were sent for slaughter or distribution, while about 9,400 were transferred to other farms.
"The dogs we are rescuing today will see a new future -- they have a chance to find their homes and families," Sangkyung Lee, Humane World's Korea campaign manager, said. "But for other dogs still remaining in the industry, we are quite sad about their future."
Lee warned that small-scale breeding, slaughter and trading could continue underground after February. He also expressed concern that owners could abandon remaining dogs as the deadline approaches, urging authorities to intervene and offer the animals a chance of adoption.
The Gangjin farm once bred and slaughtered as many as 1,000 dogs a year, Humane World estimated. Now, rows of empty, broken cages offered signs of the industry's retreat. Weathered collars were piled atop a crate bearing a "beware of dogs" sign.
Most of the remaining animals were smaller mixed-breed dogs, including a corgi mix and several spitz mixes, rather than the larger Jindos and Tosas commonly raised on meat farms. Lee said some had been bought or obtained from nearby villages.
"One particular thing I can notice is that there are many chains and collars in cages," Lee said. "That means many dogs were once raised as companion dogs, but they ended up being here."
A member of the public alerted a local animal protection group about conditions on the Gangjin farm earlier this year. The group contacted Humane World, and local authorities found violations of the Animal Protection Act. The 80-year-old owner agreed to relinquish the dogs and signed a commitment to leave the industry.
Lee said the farm had declared only 20 dogs in its closure plan, but he found more than 60 when he visited, illustrating the difficulty of establishing how many animals remain in the trade.
Responding Wednesday to coverage of the Gangjin rescue, the Agriculture Ministry said the farm's July 2024 implementation plan listed 140 dogs. It said it monitors dog populations through monthly inspections and separately tracks operations that did not formally report their businesses.
The ministry pledged special inspections of all dog farms in November and December and measures to protect and care for remaining dogs as the February deadline approaches.
From cages to new homes
A constant stream of barking filled the air Tuesday as rescuers removed the dogs -- some frightened, some eager to be picked up and held -- from cages littered with excrement. Over the two-hour operation, crates were loaded onto flatbed trucks bound for Incheon Airport, near Seoul.
Nearly 30 of the rescued dogs have since arrived in New York, Humane World said Thursday, and will receive care at its Maryland rehabilitation center before being placed for adoption. Another 12 were transferred to Montreal, while some mothers and young puppies will remain in South Korea until early next year.
Beyond saving individual dogs, Higgins said, the farm rescues brought media attention to the horrific conditions in the industry and helped build public opposition to the trade. Most South Koreans she encountered did not eat dog meat, she said, and many had never seen inside a meat farm.
"I think South Korea has always been a country with an enormous number of dog lovers," she said.
Nearly three in 10 South Korean households have a pet, according to a government survey released this year. Dogs are kept by more than 80% of pet-owning households.
Humane World is now shifting its focus in South Korea toward monitoring compliance with the ban, while extending its work with farmers on alternative livelihoods in countries including Vietnam, India, Indonesia and China. The organization estimates that 30 million dogs are killed for human consumption across the region each year.
"I really think this situation in South Korea is a real blueprint for other countries across Asia in showing them how to end the dog and cat meat trade," Higgins said.
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