Even as animal rights groups continue to truly save lives and improve the living conditions of thousands of animals worldwide, there are still plenty of obstacles that stand between them and achieving a world where animals are properly protected.
One of those obstacles is the puppy farms that operate in countries like South Korea where an active puppy mill in Hongseong was operating until recently.
These farms housed hundreds of dogs old and young, all being bred rather and not sheltered—and not only to be sold as pets but also for dog meat, as well.
But luckily, Humane Society International (HSI) rescuers recently raided the farm---and now, thanks to them, hundreds of pups, which included chihuahuas, corgis, huskies, French bulldogs, Pomeranians, Yorkshire terriers, Shih Tzus, and poodles, were been given a new lease on life.
The rescuers negotiated with the farmer to help him close his operation. He had been growing increasingly ashamed of the business and was no longer turning a profit.
“From the very beginning, my entire family has been against my dog farming,” said Lee Sang-gu, the farmer who agreed to close his operations. “All my daughters and my wife want me to close it, and they have never wanted to visit the farm. I feel very ashamed to be a dog meat farmer and a puppy mill farmer so I barely tell anyone what I’m doing.”
The shame of his family hadn’t been enough to spur him to close it down, but the persuasion of HSI finally did the trick. And not long after they managed to finalize terms guaranteeing that Lee won’t operate in the dog meat trade again for 20 years, the group was able to head in and rescue the dogs.
While some of the pictures were heartbreaking, the dogs showed a lot of excitement at being rescued. They'll head to various no-kill shelters and foster homes so they can be rehabilitated if needed and ultimately sent out to new forever homes in Canada and the United States. It’s hard not to fall in love with these faces!
