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Earlier this month, authorities from the Special Area of the City of (DKI) Jakarta—the most populous metropolitan area in Indonesia, which includes the capital city—announced they have banned the dog and cat meat trades, which will save the lives of an estimated 340 dogs and countless cats per day

Ahead of the first Bok Nal since the passage of the Special Act to ban the dog meat industry in South Korea, people gathered in a hopeful celebration at Cheonggye Plaza in Seoul. The event was organized by a coalition of animal protection groups, including our team at Humane Society International

Before Lucky was known as Lucky, he was a nameless dog chained outside a shop in Yulin, China, with a sign in front of him advertising dog meat. He couldn’t have known that death was mere moments away, nor anticipate how his fate might change. Chinese animal activists—who are ramping up their fight

One of the most miraculous things about animals is their extraordinary ability to heal and love. It is something we witness time and again in our work, especially with the dogs we rescue from South Korean dog meat farms. Last month, I told you about the latest group of 170 survivors from the 17th

Not long ago, our Humane Society International team in South Korea discovered yet another heartbreaking scene on a dog meat farm: Dozens and dozens of dogs were locked in feces-filled cages awaiting slaughter. Many were pregnant, days away from giving birth to puppies who would only know a life of

Earlier this month we told you about Lucky, a dog saved moments before slaughter in Yulin, as the city began preparing for its infamous lychee and dog meat “festival” later in June. Since Lucky’s rescue, local activists have been vigilant in their determination to end this event for good. In the

Each year, the heroes of our Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society International Animal Rescue Teams wade into the worst possible situations to pull out animals who are living without hope. Today, on Giving Tuesday, I want to highlight the stories of just a few of these animals who

With so much global attention focused on the dog meat trade in a handful of Asian countries, it’s important not to overlook the fact that there is a regional cat meat trade as well. The best one could say is that it’s smaller than the dog meat industry, thankfully. Otherwise, it’s got the same

Not so long ago, for a golden retriever now known as Chewbacca (nicknamed Chewy), the whole world was the small, dirty space inside the four wire sides of his pen. The first five years of Chewy’s life were spent on a dog meat farm in South Korea. But Chewy was lucky. The farmer favored him and so

One of the most important aspects of animal advocacy is ensuring that changes to policy translate to meaningful actions that save lives. What happened on a street in Indonesia earlier this month signals remarkable progress, bringing much-needed hope to the more than one million dogs who are sold for

Recently, I told you about promising developments in the fight against dog meat in China, where law enforcement, government and animal advocates worked together to shut down an illegal slaughterhouse and rescue the 126 dogs found alive inside. Now I want to take you to Gyeonggi-do, South Korea

We are making great progress every day in our fight to end the dog meat trade and I have two major developments to share with you today from countries that have been the focus of some of our most important work. Yesterday, South Korean authorities shut down one of their country’s largest dog meat

Chinese activists who fight the dog and cat meat trade see some pretty horrible sights in their work, and this is no less true of a recent rescue of 150 cats who were lured and trapped by thieves using wild-caught sparrows as bait. According to police—who arrested members of a gang in the city of

I know there’s been a lot of discussion on this blog recently about dog meat. As with any battle for a more humane future, the campaigning and advocacy work to end the dog meat trade requires persistence and strength of heart, which can require years of work. At times, the fight for a more humane

After Hurricane Irma struck in 2017, we responded to the British Virgin Islands where the storm had caused terrible devastation. Many people were forced to evacuate the island, but it was difficult to find transport for their animals. So, after providing the dogs required veterinary care, we flew

Indonesia’s first-ever prosecution of dog meat traders under animal health and food safety laws represents another milestone in the global campaign to protect dogs from being slaughtered for food. A district attorney on the island of Java recently confirmed plans to prosecute dog traders intercepted

The dog meat festival in Yulin, China, begins this Friday. However, dogs and cats, either stolen from their owners or plucked from the streets, are already being mercilessly bludgeoned to death or electrocuted before being cooked and served up as food in the city’s restaurants. As we do each year

For the past seven years, Mr. Hung has been in the dog meat business in Viet Nam. He estimates that in that time, he has bought, sold and slaughtered as many as 20,000 dogs. Every couple of months, dog meat traders delivered around 50 puppies to Hung’s facility, where they were kept in filthy raised

So much of our work for animals depends on transforming the way people view animals, and so we are deeply proud to have brought a very special photography exhibit to Seoul, South Korea, in that spirit. Our Beyond Prejudice exhibition by award-winning photographer Sophie Gamand showed survivors of

The hands-on rescue work we do at the Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society International can be some of the most difficult for our responders, emotionally, because no matter how often they do this, it is never easy to see animals living and suffering in terrible conditions. But it