Volunteers from the Peterborough Humane Society are travelling to Montreal Friday to pick up dogs which were recently rescued from a Korean meat farm.
The shelter partnered with the Humane Society International for the transfer.
The HSI for the past three years has been working in South Korea and has helped to close 10 dog meat farms, transporting more than 1,200 canines to Canada, the U.S. and the U.K.
“We’ve got that opportunity to bring some dogs here which will now have that opportunity to have a second chance at life,” said Shawn Morey, executive director of the Peterborough Humane Society.
Recently 80 dogs – ranging in age from 8 months to a year old – were flown into Montreal and 15 of them will transferred to Peterborough and be available for adoption.
“We are extremely excited to be establishing this relationship with the team at HSI, in an effort to find these beautiful dogs deserving homes in our community,” said Morey.
“Over the past few weeks, we have been extremely diligent in the decision making to be sure these dogs will be great additions to local families. They have been quarantined, vaccinated, vetted, as well as behaviourally screened prior to moving forward with this program.”
Rebecca Aldworth, executive director for HSI/Canada, said the dogs lived a life of “severe deprivation” for food, veterinary care and socialization. Many were either crammed in wire cages or chained to stakes in the ground on a South Korean dog meat farm.
“But thanks in large part to the generosity of the Eric S. Margolis Family Foundation, HSI was able to rescue these deserving dogs and bring them to safety here in Canada,” she said.
“We are forever grateful to the Peterborough Humane Society, and all of our incredible placement partners, for working to find forever homes for these wonderful dogs.”
Mike Swift of Peterborough, who recently played with the Korean men’s Olympic hockey team, will be on hand to greet the dogs when they arrive in Peterborough.
“Being a dog lover, and having been in Korea for the past seven years, it seemed like a great fit to support yet another great endeavour by the PHS team and its volunteers,” he said.
At the Peterborough shelter, the canines will receive additional medical screening to ensure all health and wellness measures are met. All dogs are scheduled to be spayed or neutered before adoption as per the humane society’s mandate.
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