Gold medallist already a champion with dog lovers

Canadian figure skater saves pup from Korea’s dog meat trade

Canadian figure skater Meagan Duhamel won a gold medal in South Korea yesterday — though no prize could be more life-changing than her previous PyeongChang souvenir.

Duhmale claimed her first Olympic title yesterday in the team figure skating event but she has already been thought of as a champion by many dog lovers.

The two-time world champion brought home Moo-tae — an affable miniature dachshund mix with big ears, bowed legs and the bad luck of being born into the Korean dog meat trade.

Duhamel, a vegan and animal lover, helped rescue Moo-tae by accompanying him on his flight from South Korea to Canada last February. The 2-year-old pup has been living with her and husband/ coach Bruno Marcotte in Montreal since, spending his days accompanying Duhamel to yoga and making friends at the local dog park. “He’s like a saint,” Duhamel said. It’s been a different life for Mootae. Like about 2 million dogs each year, he was supposed to be raised on a Korean dog meat farm, where conditions are often poor. Moo-tae may have been locked in a cage, beaten or left without food or water. Certainly, he would have been sold and slaughtered, then probably served in soup at one of many restaurants still popular among Korea’s elderly population.

Koreans have been eating dog for thousands of years, though the practice has waned recently and most in the country don’t do it regularly. Many older Koreans believe dog meat aids virility, though younger citizens are largely either against the practice or indifferent to it. The country has begun shifting away from dog consumption as pet ownership has increased, with one in five households owning either a dog or a cat in 2016.

Some major dog meat shops — like the Moran Market in Seongnam — have been shut down and President Moon Jae-in even made a campaign promise to adopt a shelter dog if he won last year’s presidential election.

Still, the industry persists, and despite pressure from animal rights groups — particularly from Western countries — PyeongChang won’t completely shelter Olympic visitors from the trade this month. Area restaurants were offered government aid if they stopped selling dog meat, but some declined to change their menus, fearing they’d spurn regular patrons and be left without customers when the tourists left.

“It is really difficult for me to change my menu just because of the Olympics,” said Park Young-ae, 60, whose Young Hoon Restaurant is nearly in the shadow of the Olympic Stadium.

Groups like Humane Society International want South Korea to ban the slaughter of dogs entirely, while smaller groups have established volunteer systems to rescue dogs and close farms.

Moo-tae’s adoption was organised through one such group: Free Korean Dogs. Founder EK Park was born in South Korea and now lives in Toronto, and she oversees adoptions that bring dogs to Canada and the United States. She worked on Moo-tae’s adoption.

Buddhists in the southern part of the country helped rescue Moo-tae from a farm as a puppy, and Park found him living in a monastery.

“He loved to sit with the Buddhas during meditation and yoga,” said Duhamel, who meditates daily. “I thought, ‘Oh my God, maybe this dog has some special spiritual energy.’ That was really why I chose him.”

Duhamel, a Sochi silver medallist in the team event, is planning to do more to undercut the dog meat industry. With US skier Gus Kenworthy and snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis she appeared in a public service announcement about the dog meat trade.

She’s also arranged with Park to fly home another rescued dog when she returns to Canada.