Rescued Korean dogs arrive
Twenty-nine dogs that were once part of a “meat farm” in South Korea arrived in San Diego for possible adoption, part of a Humane Society program that hopes to end the Korean tradition of eating dog meat.
“The dog-meat trade is one of the most horrific forms of cruelty,” said Gary Weitzman, president and CEO of the San Diego Humane Society.
The Humane Society International has taken possession of more than 100 dogs from a South Korean farmer in recent months, paying the farmer to transition to other crops, according to news coverage in the nation.
Most of the dogs have been sent to Humane Society and Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals chapters in the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento.
The 29 dogs for San Diego — mostly mastiffs, Jindo mixes and Chihuahuas — arrived Wednesday night on a 14-hour flight from South Korea to San Francisco International Airport.
A team from the San Diego Humane Society drove the dogs to San Diego, where they will be evaluated by veterinarians before being placed for adoption.
Dog meat is legal for human consumption in South Korea, although increasingly controversial.
The Korean Assn. for Policy Studies estimated that 2 million dogs are slaughtered each year for food in the nation of 50 million people.
Amid a growing backlash, the number of restaurants in Seoul that serve dog meat has dropped to about 700 from a peak of 1,500, according to the BBC. Some of the dog-meat farms have just 100 animals, “others have 10 times as many,” the BBC said.
The rescued dogs are to make their debut at a news conference Tuesday in San Diego.