Olympic Skier Convinces A South Korean Dog Farmer To Shut Down His Farm, Saving The Farm's Puppies

Olympian Gus Kenworthy managed to persuade a South Korean dog farmer to shut down his farm. Then, he rescued the farm’s puppies from a grisly fate.

Mr. Kenworthy is a freestyle skier who is competing at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. He has used these games to spotlight the barbaric treatment of dogs in South Korea.

Gus worked along with the Humane Society International in order to persuade the farmer to shut down his farm, setting free 90 dogs and taking them to America and Canada.

Well, almost all of the 90 dogs. Gus decided to keep one for himself, a puppy he named Beemo.

New Olympics. Same me.

A post shared by gus kenworthy (@guskenworthy) on Feb 23, 2018 at 4:36pm PST

As he wrote in an Instagram post:

"It’s not my place to impose western ideals on the people here. The way these animals are being treated, however, is completely inhumane and culture should never be a scapegoat for cruelty."

Kenworthy has a reputation of saving dogs while competing at the Olympics. Back in 2014, while he was competing at the Sochi games in Russia, the man saved five strays who were roaming around the city.

This morning Matt and I had a heart-wrenching visit to one of the 17,000 dog farms here in South Korea. Across the country there are 2.5 million dogs being raised for food in some of the most disturbing conditions imaginable. Yes, there is an argument to be made that eating dogs is a part of Korean culture. And, while don't personally agree with it, I do agree that it's not my place to impose western ideals on the people here. The way these animals are being treated, however, is completely inhumane and culture should never be a scapegoat for cruelty. I was told that the dogs on this particular farm were kept in "good conditions" by comparison to other farms. The dogs here are malnourished and physically abused, crammed into tiny wire-floored pens, and exposed to the freezing winter elements and scorching summer conditions. When it comes time to put one down it is done so in front of the other dogs by means of electrocution sometimes taking up to 20 agonizing minutes. Despite the beliefs of some, these dogs are no different from the ones we call pets back home. Some of them were even pets at one time and were stolen or found and sold into the dog meat trade. Luckily, this particular farm (thanks to the hard work of the Humane Society International and the cooperation of a farmer who's seen the error of his ways) is being permanently shut down and all 90 of the dogs here will be brought to the US and Canada where they'll find their fur-ever homes. I adopted the sweet baby in the first pic (we named her Beemo) and she'll be coming to the US to live with me as soon as she's through with her vaccinations in a short couple of weeks. I cannot wait to give her the best life possible! There are still millions of dogs here in need of help though (like the Great Pyrenees in the 2nd pic who was truly the sweetest dog ever). I'm hoping to use this visit as an opportunity to raise awareness to the inhumanity of the dog meat trade and the plight of dogs everywhere, including back home in the US where millions of dogs are in need of loving homes! Go to @hsiglobal's page to see how you can help. #dogsarefriendsnotfood #adoptdontshop ❤️🐶

A post shared by gus kenworthy (@guskenworthy) on Feb 23, 2018 at 8:10am PST

Eating dog meat, which is known locally as Gaegogi, has a long tradition in Korea: it is used in recipes designed to restore virility. However, the practice remains controversial because of sanitary and animal rights concerns.

While South Korea adopted its first Animal Protection Law in May 1991, it never prohibited the slaughter of dogs for their meat, merely banning the killing of animals in inhumane ways.

Gaegogi (dog meat) stew by Rhett Sutphin

Despite that, unlike beef, pork or chicken, dog meat is excluded from the list of livestock under the Livestock Processing Act of 1962.

That means that there are no regulations when it comes to slaughtering dogs for meat and that leads to them being killed in many brutal ways, including electrocution, strangulation and some animals are even allegedly beaten to death.

Teamed up with @jossiwells today and won the #DewTour team challenge for our sponsor Atomic! Click the link in my bio to watch our winning runs! 🙏🏼 📷:@bishopjosh

A post shared by gus kenworthy (@guskenworthy) on Dec 11, 2016 at 5:42pm PST

Proponents of Gaegogi think that the meat should be regulated like any other to make sure that the meat is prepared in humane and sanitary ways.

Nevertheless, others believe the practice should be entirely banned.

Thankfully the practice seems to be dying out in South Korea. According to a 2007 survey by the Korean Ministry of Agriculture, 59% of Koreans under 30 wouldn't eat dog.

Reference: Unilad