Montreal organization saves 20 dogs from South Korean dog meat farm

Twenty dogs who were rescued from a South Korean meat farm are getting ready for the next chapter of their lives.

The animals are being healed and rehabilitated by Human World Animals Canada, a Montreal-area non-profit dog rescue that helps shut down dog meat farms around the world.

“When they arrive here, they have no idea where they are, so our team is here to help them into this transition and make it as easy as possible for them,” said Ewa Demianowicz, the organization’s program director.

“The first two weeks are really critical in getting them comfortable and making sure that the stress is reduced as much as possible.”

Each dog will receive care, veterinary service, and behavioral therapy catered to specific needs, as Demianowicz notes that some dogs rescued are as young as 10-months-old. The goal is to get them adopted by loving families from Quebec or across the country.

“A lot of the times, those first days, they look at us and you can tell that they’re scared,” said Jasmine Gallienne, senior manager of the Canadian Care and Rehabilitation Centre. “You can tell that these dogs don’t know what’s going on.

“On these farms often, unfortunately, they just live in their cage and people are not coming up to see them, they’re not getting pet, they’re not having this kind of interaction.”

Gallienne says the rescue’s focus right now is teaching the dogs how to go on walks and adapt to living a normal life without any stressors.

“Real walks, not just playing in the yard,” she said. “But we do have four or five that are a lot more reserved than the others. Two of them have some orthopedic issues that we need to work through that they might need some physiotherapy or assistance in walking or further evaluations.

“There is no pressure to rush them through the door. We are going to take the time that is needed for each dog.”

The dogs were rescued May 8 and brought to the facility in June after South Korean authorities permanently shut down a dog meat farm for cruelty violations. In total, 67 dogs were rescued.

South Korea is currently phasing out the dog meat industry following a full ban last year that comes into effect in 2027.

“What happened in this particular case is that there were violations on this farm and authorities intervened and closed it down,” Demianowicz said. “So they called our team to make sure that the dogs are removed safely and are placed and we were able to assist authorities in South Korea in shutting down this illegal dog meat farm.”

Demianowicz explains their facility is quite unique, as the dogs often “really have no other place to go.”

“There’s really no other option for these dogs because the sheltering system in North America is full,” she said. “So the ones that really require expert and specialized care and that require time, these dogs usually are not making it out of the sheltering system because the resources that they need are just too grand.”

“I can count it on the fingers of my hand the number of facilities that are able to dedicate so much resources to rehabilitate dogs that have major issues.”

Both Demianowicz and Gallienne says there is a need for government support on providing more resources for this issue.

“We work with a network of rescue organizations,” said Demianowicz. “So these organizations can find families for these dogs. Obviously, we are located in Montreal, so a lot of our adopters come from locally, from Montreal and surroundings, but we also do not stop if an animal has a wonderful home or an opportunity to find a wonderful home outside of the province.”

Information for adopting or getting involved is available online, with the non-profit hoping dog lovers across the country will get involved in helping provide a home for these canines.

“Seeing these dogs firsthand is truly the only way to understand what we’re talking about like this,” Gallienne said. “I can explain their behaviour all day long but until you see it, if you’ve never seen a dog that comes from a circumstance like this, we always view dogs with the vision of the dogs we have at home. But this can change people’s perception of what a trauma survivor can look like.”