For hundreds of thousands of years the stew in the pot has brewed hatred and resentment that is difficult to stop. If you wish to know why there are disasters of armies and weapons in the world, listen to the piteous cries from the slaughterhouse at midnight. (Ancient Chinese verse)

RESCUES

IDA RESCUES/ADOPTIONS

These individuals are the survivors, bearing witness for those who didn’t make it out of the dark continent of the dog and cat industry. They are now free to live their own joyous lives. Before rescue, they were all condemned to a grim existence that narrowed and narrowed toward a torturous death. Seeing them out of hell, you feel the magnitude of their transfigured lives.

HAPPY ANGELS DOG RESCUE

Founded in June, 2008, by Stephanie Jeong, Happy Angels Dog Rescue has transported about 186 South Korean dogs and one cat to be placed in permanent homes in Los Angeles. Working with various South Korean animal organizations, dogs are rescued from dog meat slaughterhouses, dog meat farms, restaurants that serve dog meat, shelters, and individual abuse cases. Because many South Korean dog lovers clamor for purebreds, especially puppies, adult dogs of mixed breeds find it much more difficult to find homes there. After rescue, the South Korean organizations foster and assist HADR in the transportation of the dogs to the States. Most of IDA’s rescues were transported via Happy Angels. Upon arrival at LAX, HADR arranges transportation to their foster homes, examinations by a U.S. vet for a thorough checkup, microchipping, and evaluations. HADR volunteers ardently devote themselves to teaching these sometimes traumatized souls all about love. A simple pat on the head or even a belly rub is often completely foreign to them. Happy Angels allows them the opportunity to become part of a loving family. It is astounding to see how quickly these dogs blossom under the care of their foster families. Happy Angels also rescues dogs from high-kill shelters and off the streets of Los Angeles.  HADR’s mission is to help end South Korea’s dog meat industry while promoting spay and neuter and dog overpopulation. Stephanie, a native of Seoul, witnessed as a child the slaughtering of dogs in her neighborhood, and always wondered why no one was stopping this horror.

IDA is able to cover all expenses, from South Korea to the States—transportation to vets, medical treatment, vaccinations, spay/neutering, boarding facilities, transportation to airport, airfare, airline kennels—because of the boundless generosity of our supporters, without whom saving lives would be distant dream.

The following is an odyssey of unremittingly bleak lives, and miraculous endings. Moonbear, Beauty, and Cleo the cat are from the notorious open-air market, Moran Market; Jenny, Biko, Mimi, and Yuna are from a dog farm; Angel was abandoned and running around another dog farm; and Fox, Hwang-Bo, Hopi, Charles, and Yong-Jeon are from a slaughterhouse.

Moonbear, Angel, Jenny, Cleo, Fox, Yuna, and Mimi have all been transported to Los Angeles. Beauty, Biko, and Hwang-Bo were flown to Las Vegas, and Yuna went to live with a foster group there as well. Moonbear, Angel, Jenny, Beauty, Biko, and Yuna have been adopted. Fox, Cleo, and Mimi are being fostered. Yong-Jeon recently arrived in Chicago and is now living in Cincinnati with his new family. Those who remain in South Korea are awaiting transport.

Moonbear, Dachshund & Terrier Mix (six months):

Lena of Los Angeles adopted Moonbear, changed his name to Ray Allen (after the Boston Celtics basketball great and fellow actor) and, like all sophisticates, he has his own Facebook page. Lena wrote that he’s “incredibly handsome, incredibly smart, and incredibly loving.  He’s recently learned to sit at every crosswalk and he absolutely will not cross until I use the word ‘cross.’  Spoiled rotten is an understatement!” Moonbear is in a giddying otherworld far away from the horror of Moran Market, blissfully free to live his glorious life.

Angel, female Jack Russell & Maltese mix (under a year):

Adopted and now living in Austin, Texas, with Junghee, who named her new love Banji, which means ring in Korean. Banji follows Junghee everywhere, never letting her out of her sight. Junghee constantly marvels at how smart her perfect little shadow is. It is a distant memory when Angel was running around a dog farm, alone, afflicted with a terrible skin condition, and heartworm-positive. Instead, she is a robustly healthy and adored companion.

 

Jenny, female red, brown, and black Terrier/Pomeranian/Papillion mix (around two years old):

The foster family became so Jenny-besotted that they recently adopted her. “I must say that Jenny is probably the most affectionate dog I have ever encountered,” gushed Annette. “At first she attached to me, then my kids, and now she is beginning to attach and wag her tail when my husband arrives, babysitter, and greets my parents and others with less nervousness. I can lift Jenny and kiss her a thousand times and she will close her eyes and love each and every kiss.  I’m aware that kissing a dog is more for the human than the canine, but she seems to relish in affection and has an energy that connects with me that I just can’t explain. Thank you for rescuing Jenny—she brings me love every day.” Once the shyest of dogs, very likely to hide or flinch when someone approached, she can now lounge on the floor, in the middle of a room crowded with family members, and everyone simply steps over, while she sways with pleasure. Jenny shared a bleak and filthy cage at a dog farm with Biko, Mimi, and Yuna and now experiences such a deep pleasure in life, surrounded by love.

Cleo, female shorthaired black and white cat (a year old):

The sublime Cleo revels in the company of her foster brother, Oliver, as they experience wonderful adventures together around the house. Cleo’s foster, Heather, says, “Cleo is doing great and she has started to allow us to pet her, either when we get home or wake up, which is a huge improvement. She still adores Oliver and I am sure Oliver has warmed up to her, even if he is not ready to admit it. I have found them sleeping side by side and Cleo is always trying to clean Oli’s head. It is so adorable. They are a great fit because she is pretty timid and it has been harder for Oliver to say no to her. Plus Oliver gets a bit jealous if we give her attention, so it’s probably best she doesn’t enjoy human company as much as she does Oliver’s.” Once wailing inside her revolting cage at Moran Market, she now purrs her delight at being free.  “Purring would seem to be, in her case, an automatic safety-valve device for dealing with happiness overflow.” (Writer Monica Edwards)

Fox, female Jindo mix (between two and three years old):

She is delightfully friendly (a vigorous movement of the tail upon greeting people), gentle, and sometimes a bit shy. She loves the company of dogs, her cat playmates, and especially her new foster guardian, Eddie. A few days after landing in the U.S., Eddie took Fox running with him on the beach and then on daily robust hikes. Fox is crazy about Eddie’s two cats, Hazel and Kit, and they all go for family walks together, with one of the cats on a leash, while the other enjoys the outdoors from a backpack. Fox thrills to car rides, observing the world from outside the window. This beautiful dog, frighteningly close to becoming dog meat in a slaughterhouse, was instead recently photographed for KombuchaDog.

KombuchaDOG was looking for rescue dogs to photograph for its new beverage launch, where a chosen dog will be featured on its bottles. Yuna and Mimi (below) were also model candidates and were photographed at a studio in downtown Los Angeles.

 

Yuna, female Jindo mix, looks like a beautiful lioness (under a year old):

Has a scar on the back of her neck from an apparent attempt to burn her alive but somehow ended up in a cage, where she would have been a bargain sale as damaged goods. The hair will not grow back but the scar has healed nicely. Yuna first spent time with a wonderful foster family in Los Angeles, where she learned how to play with toys, fetch, become expert at rolling the ball around, and even eat fresh vegetables in the garden. She also learned to trust and gratefully accept love. One of the children cuddled with Yuna every night, sleeping on the floor on the doggie bed beside her big friend. Yuna was then driven to Las Vegas, where she is getting extraordinary training and gaining confidence with each new exquisite day. Jane, founder of Furgotten Friends Dog Rescue, who, along with Manda, run a paradise for dogs and is a collaborator with A Home 4 Spot, which took in Beauty and Biko, below. Jane wrote, “Today, Yuna was in the yard and pranced around and then got the zoomies! Her tail was flying high and she had one of the biggest doggy grins I’ve ever seen. She is now romping with the pack. She has fallen in love with Nuke, the big red Staffie, who is a ladies man. I have to tell you she is a joy! What a great sense of humor she has. She has become friends with Nuke, Koosh (Bub), and Hannah. Here’s how it goes…Yuna LOVES Nuke. Koosh LOVES Yuna. Hannah LOVES Koosh. Nuke LOVES Jane. And she PLAYS! She does this jump/hop move that makes me think of coyotes and wolves when they play. She is always smiling, especially when she is racing around the yard with the zoomies!” Once sharing a horror of a cage with Mimi, Biko, and Jenny, Yuna found a refuge with new friends until her next foster or permanent home.

Mimi, female shorthaired cream Terrier mix  (around two years old):

Irresistible face, gentle, calm, and sometimes timid but adores people; great with other dogs. She traveled to Los Angeles from Seoul with her cage mate, Yuna, with whom she was rescued, and often hid behind in the shelter. Brenda is currently fostering Mimi, and they recently went to a dog beach, which Mimi loved. She also is mad for her walks. She is a boon companion with her foster Dachshund sister, Ban-Ji.

Beauty and Biko arrived in Las Vegas with the help of the rescue group, A Home 4 Spot.  Our deepest gratitude to volunteers Amanda and Lara, who fostered Beauty and Biko, respectively, and to Diana of A Home 4 Spot.

Beauty, female yellow & tan Jindo mix (two to three years old):

Mike and Tricia, owners of a vineyard in Fallbrook, California, recently adopted Beauty. The couple’s late dog, Silky, died on the day Beauty arrived in Las Vegas, in May, and they saw it as fate. Silky led them to Beauty. After reading Beauty’s story, they were enthralled. A few months earlier, they had booked a trip to Las Vegas but had no idea they would be returning home with a Jindo mix from South Korea. But upon meeting her, they were immediately enchanted and named her Rio, Spanish for “river.” Thanks to Amanda and Jason who fostered and adored her, and trainer Daniel Chavez, who helped her become more comfortable on a leash, Rio was revivified and ready to embark on a new life. In the beginning, she had a playmate and neighbor, a one-eyed Golden Retriever from Taiwan. And now she goes off on long hikes with Mike and Tricia, wearing her little backpack. As Tricia says, “We walk her twice a day, her tail held high, and so proud. She loves her little backpack. It gives her a job and purpose, and she wears it with such pride. Every day is a new day, and a new adventure.” Rio also loves to sit on the patio, alongside Mike and Tricia, always happy. “We want to thank everyone involved who made this happen: IDA for saving her life, Diana England at A Home 4 Spot, and Mandi, Jason, and Danny. We love her so much and are so delighted to have her with us. She is just amazing and continues to dazzle us every day and is gaining more confidence than when she first came home with us. We continue the training, and our bond is getting stronger and stronger. Our deepest thanks for bringing her into our lives.” Saved from Moran Market, one of the dark places on earth, Rio exults in her new status as a vineyard dog.

Biko, male black and brown Mini Pinscher mix (around a year and a half):

Briana took one look at Biko, knew it was love, adopted him, and renamed him Milo. Surrounded by dogs, he is in a state of bliss. Like two peas in a pod with his new brother, Ryder, he also gets to cavort with cousins Clyde, George, and Maggie. Although Milo is still a bit timid with humans, he is beautifully at ease in the presence of dogs. Briana wrote, “I am very thankful that people like you are out there doing what most of us can’t find the time or don’t have the stomach to do. Thank you for bringing my little angel home to me. He turns heads and taps into emotions everywhere we go.” Rescued from the horror of the dog farm with Yuna, Mimi, and Jenny, Biko then found safety and love with A Home 4 Spot’s Lara, who helped prepare him for his permanent dream space with Briana and friends.

 

Hwang-Bo, female Japanese Mastiff mix (around 1 year old):

Lara, a volunteer at Little Friends Foundation in Las Vegas, is fostering this big love, now sporting a hot pink martingale. “She slept in my room last night with my other dogs, including two nine-week-old puppies and was wonderful. I came home from work this morning to her lounging. She gets along with everyone beautifully. The Rotti mix, Berkeley, has quite the crush on her. They follow each other around with big old grins.” The tips of both her ears are cut as a result of frostbite, but Hwang-Bo (meaning yellow, and now nicknamed “Georgia Peach”) doesn’t seem to notice. “I don’t know what frostbite looks like, but it almost looks like a blind man tried to crop her ears but she is still a beauty. After dinner, Georgia retired to what I call ‘The Dog Chair.’ It’s a sort of initiation. Once you settle in the recliner, you’re officially part of the crew. And when not busy playing with the puppies, she has finally figured out what toys are! She has never looked twice at all the toys and then the other night she started playing with a few and looked positively ecstatic! She then proceeded to go around the entire house picking up all the toys and taking them to her corner of my room.”

Yong-Jeon, aka Back-chung, now called Gandhi, male white Jindo, (around a year old):

Gandhi arrived at bustling O’Hare International Airport in Chicago and was greeted by his new mum, Gisele, who knew she wanted him from the moment she saw a photo of his frightened eyes staring out in the darkness of a slaughterhouse. Soon after being coaxed from his airline crate, he settled onto a blanket in the back of the car as if awakened from a bad dream to find the day gorgeously stretched before him. On the six-hour journey to his new home in Cincinnati, he sat contentedly and gazed outside, enjoying the heat of the sun, finally arriving around midnight. And now Gandhi’s body language says it all—animal joy is in abundance. While he still stares at his toy box with wonderment and is wary of anything that squeaks, he has been engaging his new sister Gita in some play. When he gets up in the morning, he immediately barks at her to let her know he is ready to run. And off they go, through the living room and out to the back yard, where he thrills to race around. He also lives with a new brother called Ananda and they are often together in the living room, lounging, and watching people and their dogs go by outside the front door. And then the big moment arrives—mealtime, when, along with kibble, Gandhi is served pumpkin, sweet potato, peas, yogurt, and fish oil, so he is not only beginning to gain a little weight (you could see his ribs) but his once course white hair is becoming almost velvety.  And every night, Gandhi, Ananda, and Gita wait next together for their snack of Nori seaweed, which he eats with great relish. At first, he was puzzled by it but now he opens his mouth wide in delicious anticipation. He also likes rice cakes but turns his nose at dill pickles, a favorite of Gita’s. At first he was nervous to take something from Gisele’s hand but it is second nature now. On his daily walks, which he loves, he keeps company with Ananda and Gita, and sniffs everything in sight. It may be the first time he has ever walked upon grass. At night, he quietly lays his head on Gisele’s lap, a very content and deliriously free Gandhi. Gisele’s friend, photographer Lynn Bowles, captured his utter delight.

Suni, female white Jindo (around a year old):

 

Someone purchased Suni and her brother from Moran Market when they were about seven months old. And when they became seriously ill, they were promptly returned to the vendor. Coexistence of Animal Rights on Earth (CARE) found out about the dogs and sent a rescue team to pick them up and take them immediately to a vet. Sadly, the brother died from complications of canine distemper, but Suni pulled through the treatment beautifully and only has a tic disorder on her right hind leg, which does nothing to slow her down. At CARE’s shelter, her pluckiness and good cheer dazzled everyone and it was decided that she should find a forever family in the States, and asked IDA to fund her transport to a new life. While awaiting an adopter, Suni lived with a foster in South Korea who doted upon her, giving her treats of fruit. And, then, recently, she was flown to Los Angeles, where she has found true love with Denise and her animal companions, dogs Dakota (aka Koko), twin sister Kamea, and cats Cricket and Chloe. Honeymoon-in-love with everyone, but especially Denise, with whom she could snuggle all day, Suni gets crazy excited whenever her mum comes through the door and showers her with a thousand kisses. Lately, Suni has made numerous discoveries, such as her new soft dog bed, her mum’s bed, and her favorite lounging area behind the couch on the floor, her head resting on the cool steps. And perhaps best of all are the fabric-covered foam doughnut rings that she presents Denise as a gift when she comes home. She is so pleased with herself when offering her presents and then runs around in a state of jubilation. She and Kamea, her white Jindo double, are becoming inseparable, napping intertwined, Suni allowing Kamea to lick her face, while Suni’s eyes are closed in a deep reverie. They like to run around the back yard, chasing each other, and then going for the doughnut rings. Suni has a robust appetite, and she and her siblings all love their strawberry and vanilla-flavored cookies. On her walks with Kamea and Dakota, as soon as she nears her house, Suni immediately stops sniffing and doing her business and determinedly pulls the leash toward her home, possessed of a new fervor for life, and seemingly without a care in the world.

Fox, Hwang-Bo, Yong-Jeon, Charles, and Hopi were all rescued together from the slaughterhouse. They had suffered from canine distemper, among other illnesses, and received intensive medical treatment, funded by IDA, and have fully recovered.  Charles has a residual movement of the head when he’s anxious but otherwise in good health. He and Hopi are being well looked after at the CARE shelter. Plans are being made for their transport to join their friends in the States and live new lives.

Hocheong aka Hopi, male Saint Bernard mix (younger than a year):

A dashing-looking brindle, who was initially very frightened, but is becoming more comfortable in his surroundings, and now reveling in the attention of his caregivers.

 

Charles, male Great Dane mix (around a year old):

Still timid but slowly emerging out of his shell and feeling more at ease every day. He is looking forward to a lifetime of freedom.

 

If you are interested in fostering or adopting, no matter where you live in the States, please e-mail skoreancampaign@idausa.org.

Rest in Peace: Umsal, Padu, and Hite