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How A Rescue From A South Korean Dog Meat Farm Ended Up In Fort Collins

Meredith Lee
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Humane Society International
More than 250 dogs were recently rescued from a South Korean dog meat farm by Humane Society International.

Frodo, Larimer County’s newest refugee, is nervously pacing the fence line of the Larimer Humane Society’s play yard. The society’s behaviorist, Kate Gloeckner, points out that the white jindo mix is still pretty unsure of his new surroundings.

“This dog in particular was probably our most fearful dog that we saw come into the shelter,” Gloeckner said. “We think that he’s a little bit older than the rest of the dogs, so our suspicion is that he was probably in those enclosures a little bit longer.”

What she is referring to is the 3-by-5 cage that, until about two weeks and more than 6,000 miles ago, had been Frodo’s home. Before you hear about Frodo’s new life in Colorado, you need to know about his old life in South Korea.

Frodo was one of 250 furry, four-legged refugees -- ranging from labs to Mastiffs to Shepherds -- recently rescued by Humane Society International from a dog meat farm.

Long a tradition in South Korea, eating dog meat has fallen out of favor in the last few decades. As the country’s international visibility increases, so has scrutiny over the practice. There’s been a quiet push from the South Korean government to close down dog meat farms before the country hosts the 2018 Winter Olympics.

“I think, they’d rather it just went away quietly,” said Adam Parascandoloa, director of Animal Protect and Crisis Response for Humane Society International.

Credit Stacy Nick / KUNC
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KUNC
A skittish Frodo keeps near the fence in the Larimer Humane Society's play area.

In the last two years, HSI has shut down five South Korean dog meat farms. The latest - which originally bred the dogs as pets but found dog meat to be more lucrative - actually contacted them.

“Most of the farmers feel a lot of shame around being involved in the business,” Parascandola said. “It’s not something they feel proud about.”

The conditions at the farm were much like ones HSI officials had seen in puppy mills and factory farms in the United States.

“Most of them are in very small, just metal cages, without any solid floor. They all sort of stand on the wirings, so the idea is they go to the bathroom and it falls through, which then doesn’t appear to ever be cleaned up so there’s just giant mounds underneath each of the cages,” he said. “They’re not given any water. The only water they get is when they’re fed once a day - this sort of gruel that’s made with water and food scraps...”

There’s also little to no medical attention given to the dogs. Nor is there any recreation or real human contact. The end result is a “sort of frustrated and kind of empty existence” for the dogs on these farms, Parascandola said.

After arriving at the farm in December 2015, it was months before they could get all 250 dogs checked out and vaccinated. Then there was the 30-day waiting period required between the vaccination and actually getting the dogs out of their cages - and on their long journey to freedom.

Credit Meredith Lee / Humane Society International
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Humane Society International
Dogs sit in carriers at the airport in Incheon, South Korea before being loaded onto a plane bound for San Francisco.

Each day, HSI officials loaded up about 14 dogs from the farm in South Korea’s Wonju province, about two hours east of Seoul. They would drive them three hours to the international airport in Incheon. There are quarantines. There’s paperwork. It’s a lot of work just to get onto a 10-hour flight to San Francisco. Then there’s U.S. customs and more waiting once you arrive. From there, the dogs went in separate directions between 17 sites in the states. Frodo - in the last batch to be rescued from the farm - came to the humane society in Fort Collins with nine others.

“Colorado - their shelters have very strong behavioral programs,” Parascandola said. “They’ve always done excellent work with very challenging dogs… Also they always want big dogs there. That’s what’s popular for the most part with their adopters, so we felt it was a natural fit.”

Once in Fort Collins, the dogs were given check-ups by veterinarians. Five of the dogs were sent to Animal House Rescue & Grooming, also in Fort Collins, and Black Dog Animal Rescue in Cheyenne. Frodo, who remained at LHS,  was one of the last to be neutered. LHS behaviorist Kate Gloeckner didn’t want to overwhelm him with too many new experiences right away. Out in the play area, just about everything is new, even running.

“What he’s doing right now is he keeps doing these little spurts where he runs a little bit and then almost looks confused, like, ‘What was that? I think I liked that. Maybe I’ll do that again,’” Gloeckner said. “But kind of figuring out how to use their bodies.”

Credit Stacy Nick / KUNC
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KUNC
Larimer Humane Society Behaviorist Kate Gloeckner works with Frodo on learning the basics of being a dog.

Barking is another learning curve, LHS executive director Judy Calhoun said. Another of the dogs, a black lab they’ve named Peggie, finally gave one playful staccato bark earlier in the day.

“I would suspect that lack of noise is (because) they really haven’t had a need for communication yet in their life,” Calhoun said.

When Peggie first arrived, she took two days just to come out from under a blanket in the back of her crate. It’s all about baby steps with these dogs, Calhoun said. That’s something their new owners will have to understand.

“It will take a very special kind of person who's willing to put that time into it,” she said. “Because there will also be setbacks… And each time they encounter a new situation or a new environment and kind of recover from it, they gain that confidence, some of that resiliency that is so important.”

There’s still a long way for these dogs to go, but the Larimer Humane Society is accepting applications from people hoping to adopt them and give them a lifetime of new experiences.

Stacy was KUNC's arts and culture reporter from 2015 to 2021.
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