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Emergency Relocation Needed: Protecting 200 Survivors of the Dog Meat Industry

Sharing for Coexistence of Animal Rights on Earth (CARE)

 

A Crisis—and a New Beginning—for Yellow Dog Shelter (January 2026)

In January 2026, CARE’s Yellow Dog Shelter—South Korea’s largest sanctuary for rescued nureongi (Korean native dogs)—faced its greatest crisis yet.

More than 200 dogs were suddenly at risk of losing their home.

Following the sudden death of the landowner, a related party committed an unthinkable act. On a day when the Korean director was off duty, this individual illegally opened the kennel doors, releasing more than 100 dogs at once from a total population of approximately 210.

At first, the dogs were confused. Then panic spread.

They began fighting one another. Some ran off. Others were injured.

As foreign (non-Korean) staff desperately tried to prevent the dogs from escaping and to break up fights—putting themselves directly in harm’s way—the man moved quickly down the corridor, opening additional kennel doors on both sides. Staff members were bitten. Dogs bit each other. The situation spiraled into chaos.

The perpetrator was arrested at the scene but released the same day.

Over the following days, activists searched tirelessly and managed to recover nearly all of the dogs. At the time of posting, five dogs were still missing—during video uploads, one more dog was found.

These are dogs who have already survived the impossible:

Dogs who had escaped death once were now facing danger all over again.

What Yellow Dog urgently needs is an Emergency Relocation Fund—to cover fencing, moving costs, and the immediate search for a new site. To ensure that these 200 survivors are never placed at risk again, public support is critical.

 

“We Finally Found It.” A Safe, Legal Future Secured

 

After years of instability and weeks of nonstop emergency action, CARE (Coexistence of Animal Rights on Earth) delivered the news everyone was hoping for:

A new shelter site has been secured.

From the moment the kennels were illegally opened and the dogs’ safety was shattered, activists worked without a single day of rest. Day and night, they searched for land where the dogs could live without fear—somewhere legally protected, stable, and immune to malicious complaints.

And finally, they found it.

This new location is:

  • Fully legal and resistant to complaints
  • Warm, clean, and well ventilated
  • Naturally cool in the summer
  • Designed so dogs are not confined to cages

For the first time in their lives, the dogs will have:

  • Space to breathe
  • Space to run
  • A space that feels alive

Wide exercise yards will allow them to run freely. Caregivers can work more comfortably. Most importantly, the dogs will finally experience life beyond confinement.

Currently, 50% of the dogs can be relocated immediately, but the high rental cost presents a significant financial burden. Still, CARE chose what it has chosen for the past 20 years:

The dogs come first.

CARE has led the movement to shut down dog slaughterhouses and end the dog meat industry in South Korea, rescuing countless nureongi from the brink of death. At the heart of that change are these gentle, resilient dogs. Even now, more than 200 dogs remain under protection at Yellow Dog Shelter alone.

 

A Call to Protect Their Future

This new land offers the dogs something they have never known:

  • cool summers
  • earth beneath their paws as they run,
  • and the freedom to rest beside humans—without fear.

Here, they can begin preparing for families.
Here, they can learn hope instead of terror.

To make this future possible, urgent support is still needed.

💛 Become a monthly sponsor (“foster family”) for a dog: $35 USD (KRW 50,000) per month
Goal: 200 sponsors for 200 dogs
💛 Support the relocation costs
One-time donations welcome
💛 Bank Transfer: Hana Bank 350-910009-45704

Together, we can protect their summers from heat, their winters from cold, and their lives from ever being placed in danger again.

 

 

  1. Janene Wong-Brehmer
    Janene Wong-BrehmerFebruary 8,26

    Please stop chaining dogs and animals up. Think of their livelihood and compassion. Please don’t be cruel. 🙏

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