‘Stop this cruelty’: Montreal organization continues fight against global dog meat industry

It’s been just over a year since South Korea banned the dog meat industry.

Humane Society International Canada, an organization that rescues, rehabilitates, and rehomes dogs, has been assisting in the global rescue of shutting down dog meat farms.

The Montreal-area centre has been deeply involved in addressing the trade, contributing to the closure of 13 dog meat farms in South Korea, rescuing 900 dogs — with many finding loving homes in Canada, particularly in Quebec.

Ewa Demianowicz, the senior campaign manager for HSI, says dogs are often left in appalling conditions when they are slaughtered.

“In the dog meat industry, there is an estimated 30 million dogs that suffer and are killed for this purpose of human consumption,” she said.

“It is an unimaginable number when you think about it. These are all individual dogs that would love to live their life, have a happy life and to imagine that they experience such suffering and such a brutal and it’s overwhelming.”

One of the dogs, Kimchi, survived the trade was matched with Joelle Sarrailh in 2019. Sarrailh says these efforts are vital in giving the dogs a forever home. 

“I was just shocked by the conditions the dogs are living in. It’s just inhuman,” she said.

“It’s hard to kind of imagine what does it mean a dog meat farm, but once you see the pictures — and I did some research before committing to adopt a dog — and I was just shocked by the conditions.”

“These dogs, if you’re not adopting them, I don’t know what would happen with them, so you’re really saving a dog’s life.”

Kimchi was rescued from Farm 14 in South Korea, located in Seongnam City, which was shut down in November 2018.

“She’s so loyal to me,” Sarrailh explained. “That’s the thing with adopting dogs and from dog meat farms is they come into your life and they’re so, you know, they’re so grateful.”

“When Kimchi arrived, the small puppy, I remember very well this moment when she arrived here, she was a small puppy and had all her life ahead of her,” Demianowicz said. “So it was always great for us when we can rescue these puppies, knowing what they were going to experience and being able to prevent that life of suffering is always rewarding.”

Demianowicz says seeing the conditions and hearing the sounds at dog meat farms was often overwhelming. She says last year’s milestone was significant thanks to a cultural and societal tone shift around the industry.

“We closed down farms of over 200 animals, confined all in cages, in rows of cages,” she said.

“We had to come together, all of the country offices in welcoming the dogs that were being rescued and offering them homes here in Canada and also just opening the eyes of people outside of South Korea as to what was happening.”

Demianowicz feels countries in Asia, where dog meat has been traditionally consumed, are beginning to see a “change of mentality and a change in societal views about dogs.”

“This is really an illustration of this change, where you see government and internal will from within the country to put an end to this practice because of the conditions and of what it means and the suffering that it’s causing. So it’s just the society that is changing and that is achieving good with this change.”

Other dogs at HSI have escaped the international trade, with many needing rehab to adjust to regular life. 

Sarrailh said early on that Kimchi was often anxious due to the trauma, and credits HSI for providing the comfort the dogs never received.

“What Montrealers can learn about that is it’s a beautiful journey,” she expressed. “If you take care of them, you give them love, you meet just their basic needs, they become these loyal companions.”

Demianowicz says information for adopting or getting involved is available online, as they hope dog lovers across the province will get involved in helping provide a home for these canines.

“These dogs deserve a home and a second chance and we could not help and continue to rescue these animals if we had not had families ready to open their homes,” Demianowicz said. “There might be some misconceptions that are coming with adopting a dog at a shelter or particularly adopting a dog coming from such trauma, but what we see when people leave with these animals and accept them in their homes is just beautiful stories.”

Demianowicz says HSI’s fight is ongoing.

“This is not the end,” she said. “We continue to put pressures on governments all over the world to help regulate, and just on the legislative front, help stop this trade. I think raising awareness is always important because when we all come together on an issue, that’s when we see change happen.”