Fresh off a 14-hour flight from South Korea, where they were once held captive, two puppies found a new home in Gainesville on Monday.
Bernard and Louie, two 3- to 4-month-old Jindo mix puppies, were rescued — along with about 200 other dogs — from a meat farm in Wonju, South Korea, primed to become someone else’s next meal. On Monday, huddled together in a cage wearing pink sweaters, the dogs seemed at ease in their new environment.
The Humane Society International liberated the dogs in December, and they had been kept in a temporary Korean shelter until they could be approved and transported to parts of the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom, said Chrissy Sedgley, the director of operations for the Alachua County Humane Society.
“We’re really happy that they’re here because it brings awareness for not only these dogs, but all the dogs in our program,” Sedgley said.
Six Florida shelters that are part of the Humane Society of the United States’ Emergency Placement Partner program took in dogs.
“It would be very unusual for us to take in animals that are international,” said Margot DeConna, the director of development for the Alachua County Humane Society. “Since it was just a small number — just two animals — we did agree to take in two dogs, but normally our mission is much more locally focused.”
This is the sixth dog meat farm rescue the Humane Society International has organized in the past year, DeConna said. She said the Alachua County Humane Society has worked with the Humane Society of the United States on three different rescue operations in the past two years.
She said those rescues focused on dog fighting rings and puppy mills. Sedgley said today the puppies will be examined by the humane society’s vet, microchipped, neutered and then put up for adoption.
Despite not knowing their behavior, watching Bernard and Louie sit calmly, wagging their tails, Sedgley said she didn’t think it would take too long until they could be put up for adoption.
“We weren’t sure what kind of experiences they’ve had before coming to us,” she said. “But these guys seem really well socialized and easy going, so I don’t think it’ll be long until they find a home.”
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Chrissy Sedgley, the director of operations at the Alachua County Humane Society, and Margot DeConna, the director of development, hold Bernard and Louie, 3- to 4-month-old jindo mixes inside the examination rooms at the shelter on Jan 16. DeConna said, originally, she thought the two dogs might need time to be socialized before being adopted, but after seeing them, DeConna said the dogs might get adopted sooner. “I think they’re going to be highly, highly adoptable,” she said.
