About a year ago, Kuwon was just a two month old pup being kept in a cage on the outskirts of the capital Seoul, and what was worse is that he might have ended up on the dinner table. 

Kuwon was attacked by another dog in his cage that damaged one of his front legs, and in an odd quirk of fate, that led to his life being saved. With his injured leg, he wasn’t much use to the dog meat slaughterhouse owner, who gave him up to the CARE rescue, where his leg was operated on, then Kuwon was sent on, all the way to a non-profit dog rescue organization in Los Angeles, “Happy Angels Dog Rescue.”

There the vet determined that he would have to have a second operation in order to be completely okay. After he had healed from the second surgery, Kuwon then found a wonderful forever home in California. His new family renamed him Koa, which means “Strong” —since he’d withstood so much already in his short life. Koa has since grown up to be a very beautiful and contented dog living in a gorgeous house with his doting family.

CARE or Coexistence of Animal Rights on Earth in South Korea is known for being in the forefront of animal rights there, especially for their campaign against eating dogs, which has in the past been traditional in their country.

Jang Su (“Long Life”) once lived as a homeless dog. One day he was dognapped by a cruel couple who had a horrible reputation for killing dogs for the dog meat trade. When a kind-hearted neighbor heard strange, suspicious sounds, they called CARE, who sent a team right away to the rescue.  While Jang Su didn’t escape unscathed, he got good treatment by a really kind vet, and he now is the pampered mascot of a day care center run by the veterinarian who treated his wounds. Jang Su now spends his days happily playing with the other dogs in the center.

CARE has done an excellent job of making sure that dog meat festivals in their country, often held in the summer, are cancelled. The latest was scheduled for July of this year. “We couldn’t possibly go on with the plan due to endless phone calls of complaint…now there are few people willing to rent us a place for the event,” said Ann Yong-Geun, an advisor to the festival.

The Korean people are quickly coming around to a change in perspective -- that they no longer feel okay about eating dogs, our closest and most beloved animal companions.  But in the rural countryside of Korea, where education levels are lower and where this practice means money coming into the pocket, progress is slower. It is there in the countryside that CARE is fighting its toughest battles.

Luckily, large numbers of Koreans now consider this practice an international embarrassment to their country and are dedicated to saving any and all dogs scheduled for such a gruesome fate. “This is making our country an international laughing stock,” said Park So-Youn, head of CARE. “Canines are the animals emotionally closest to humans.” She and CARE have vowed to stamp out this Korean tradition.

CARE also runs an extremely well kept shelter on one and one half acres in Seoul.  Their beautiful cat rooms are dedicated to keeping their happy felines in the best environment possible where they have plenty of toys and attention. The shelter also houses dogs, birds and rabbits.

Another dog, Tan, had run into a major problem. He had wandered from home into a rural area where dog hunters put out snares to catch dogs, with a very bad end in mind. Caught in a snare, Tan managed to escape, but sadly was left with a permanent disability to his back legs.

His owners turned him over to CARE, who took him to a vet clinic for treatment. Now Tan, a truly magnificent dog, has received all the vet care he needs, and he has a new set of wheels to help him with getting around. His new family is with the very kind woman who owns the animal hospital.

In addition to all of their other work, every Sunday in Seoul, CARE holds protests against cruelty to animals, especially dogs, with the help of their website and Facebook. The organization provides volunteers everything they need to protest including pamphlets and signs.

To me it is very inspiring to know that in a country so very far away like South Korea, animal lovers are working tirelessly every day to save and help the animals.

Top photo: Courtesy of Happy Angels Dog Rescue / Koa in his forever home 

Second photo: Courtesy of CARE / Tizank 12 / Dreamstime / Dogs playing on the grass

Third photo: Courtesy of CARE / Protesting against dog-eating

To visit the website of CARE, click here.

To visit the website of Happy Angels Dog Rescue, click here.