Jeju Island is a popular tourist destination off the south tip of the Korean peninsula. That is where 19 dogs were recently rescued and shipped all the way to the Free Korean Dogs rescue shelter north west of Seoul.
The dogs were all owned by a resident of Jeju Island, who recently fell sick. The person was attempting to sell all the dogs to a dog meat dealer, when we heard about them. Of course, we said we would rescue the dogs rather than see them fall into the hands of the dog meat trade.
From Jeju Island to Ilsan in Two Days
The route from Jeju Island to our shelter
The next challenge, however, was how to transport the dogs from the Island all the way to our shelter in Ilsan, just north west of Seoul. This is where an incredible group of volunteers came to the rescue. Volunteer driver Eun Kyung Lee drove the dogs to the Jeju ferry port, where they traveled to Mokpo. Next they were handed off to another driver, Chanyui Hong, who took them all the way to Incheon. From there a driver was hired to bring them to the shelter.
In all, it was a long and grueling trip for the puppies, which lasted two days. But everyone struggled through and they all arrived safe and sound at the shelter. The troop consists of two sweet mother dogs and their combined total of 17 puppies about 3 months old. I wonder how many times they heard the puppy equivalent of “Are we there yet?”
Next came the process of having everyone de-wormed, vaccinated and heatworm tested, at a cost of $150 per dog. This is not only important for the health of the dogs, but is also a required step in obtaining their health certificate so they are able to be flown to their forever homes.
Keeping Everyone Cosy and Warm
With the recent cold snap in Korea, we had to upgrade the heating in the shelter to ensure the young puppies don’t get too chilly. In all, it’s been a very expensive venture, but we are so happy that we were able to rescue these dogs from certain death and give them a second chance at the life they deserve.
The two mamma dogs were very skinny when they arrived, but they’ve been eating well and are now starting to gain back some weight. They are both very sweet tempered and well socialized. The puppies are, of course, a bunch of goofy, innocent angels full of curiosity and energy. All of the dogs are available for adoption. Please help us support these dogs and find their forever homes.
Hi it is a terrible shame you do not allow your dogs into the U,K, It would have been an absolute priveledge to adopt one of your dogs, and give it the love they deserve so much. I hope you do so in the future. Thank you. Also just donated.
Hi Pamela. You are not the first to raise this issue and, in fact, we have had a number of adoption inquiries from UK. The challenge with sending dogs from Korea to the UK, however, is the prohibitively long mandatory quarantine period. Perhaps in future the legislation will be relaxed somewhat and we will be able to send our dogs to the UK without making the adopters wait through a 6 month quarantine.
Are any of the dogs going to be sent to the US for adoption?
Hi Sue,
They have been all adopted in Canada and the US. Thank you.