‘He lived in hopelessness with no indication that life would ever get any better. Then he was rescued and this is the best life he’s ever lived.’: Dog rescued from Korean meat farm becomes the sweetest, most joyous pupper defying his traumatic past

Author image for Laurent Shinar
Laurent Shinar • Writer and Editor
Oct 14, 2025 10:00 AM EDT

It is rather wild to think that the dog meat trade is still a thing in 2025, but depending on who you ask, some might say that all meat trades are a little outdated for our modern day. But thankfully, just because the industry exists, that does not mean that there are not wholesome hoomans who do whatever they can to release the captive animals, giving them a new leash on life.

Which is exactly what happened to the lucky pupper in this story, who ended up travelling halfway around the world to meet his new pawrent and become the bestest boy to have ever barked. This is the story that proves that no matter where you came from and what you were told that you are, you can always take things into your own hands and become the person, or darling dog, that you want to be.
 

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  • 01
    When I adopted Patrick the Korean Jindo mix a few months ago they told me he was born on a South Korean dog meat farm and rescued by the
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    International Humane Society. The Indiana shelter I adopted him from knew little about him. He was a transfer; his file had papers about a behavior evaluation
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    done at a Maryland shelter a few weeks earlier. Well, I was looking up stuff online about Jindo type dogs and stumbled across an article about a
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    transport of dogs that arrived from a meat farm in South Korea. It explained that the South Korean Humane Society coordinated with the
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  • Holy guacamole, this is one heck of a heavy backstory. To think that pretty much all the rescue stories we cover, and the worst that we ever come across is neglect and misbehaving hoomans. But here we have a case of institutionalized cruelty. Born for the sole purpose of finishing their life, for the enjoyment of hoomans.

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    International Humane Society to send the dogs to the United States. They arrived in Dulles Airport in Washington DC and would be evaluated
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    then distributed to shelters throughout the nation. This article about the arrival of the dogs was dated the same time as my dog's behavior evaluation,
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    which occurred in a DC metro area shelter. I believe my dog was part of this group. I had noted (as had my vet the first time she saw him, only
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    time so far), Patrick is unusually chill for an animal from a background of trauma. He is shy about meeting new people and tries to hide behind me but
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    he isn't aggressive or miserably fearful, and he closely bonded with my husband and me immediately. His main behavior issues (chewing anything
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    he can and chasing the cat) are untrained puppy issues, not trauma issues. We are working privately with a trainer as other Jindo owners I
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  • Wow, that is simply unreal. To go from being treated like a literal piece of meat, to being a loving, kind and gentle soul with the mind of a puppy is simply unreal. It just goes to show that there is hardly anything that can squash the spirit of a darling doggo.

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    found through a social media group for Jindo and Korean Village Dogs told me Jindos are challenging to train and a group class may not work.
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    Given as he was only about a year old at the time of his adoption and generally acts like a puppy, I thought he must have been extremely young
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    and spent an extended period of rehab in a shelter or sanctuary before his adoption. But now I realize he had never lived in a house before and was only
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    BOY AMA
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    in the country long enough to get certified and health checked and behavior evaluated before his arrival at my shelter.
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    The article had specific details about the conditions of the meat farm. Its owner had abandoned it and all the "livestock." Dogs were jam-packed
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    into cages so tightly they could not move. Imagine testrising 10 dogs into a cage meant for one. They had abandoned in their filth for an
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    indeterminate period before the SKHU stepped in. The SKHU was overwhelmed and the IHU assisted them and now Patrick is here in my
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    living room. I was well aware that the dog meat industry is wretched for its animals but to read the specific details of what my
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    specific dog endured made me start sobbing. Patrick is joyous. If I had to pick just one adjective to describe him it would be
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    joyous. He has an exuberant temperament and a joyous enthusiasm for everything in his domain. He goes around smiling constantly. He sleeps
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    on his back with his tummy on display. The reason the cats hate him is because he is all like "FREN!" to them, and he wants to play all the time and they don't
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    understand his dog play signals. I had thought maybe he seemed so issue free cause he was a very young puppy when rescued
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    and he only really remembers his mom. But no, he grew up and became a young adult in wretched conditions until just this last November.
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    No wonder he seems so happy. He lived in hopelessness with no indication that life would ever get any better. Then he was rescued and this is the best life
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    he's ever lived. I am so glad to be his mom.
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live life Joy pupper korean reddit story trauma past sweet dog story farm rescued Dog Rescue meat
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