This Dog Was Rescued From a Dog Meat Farm—Now He’s Searching For a Forever Home
Frank Sinatra is a handsome male Golden Retriever x Samoyed mix South Korean dog meat farm rescue. Frank flew from South Korea to Seattle, Washington, where he met his foster family—volunteers through Ginger’s Pet Rescue which has no physical shelter location and relies on a network of amazing fosters to house dogs waiting to be adopted.
Dog meat is not a common protein eaten in South Korea today. Historically dog meat was consumed as an affordable and accessible source of protein when beef and other meat products were inaccessible to the general public.
“Cows were highly valued, explains Dr Joo Young-ha, an anthropology professor at the Graduate School of Korean Studies. “They were so prized a government permit had to be obtained to slaughter them up until the late 19th Century,” explains BBC Korean correspondent Yuna Ku. “And so, other protein sources were needed. For those living in the Korean peninsula, dog meat was one of the best options, enjoyed by people across the class spectrum, although there were always those who avoided it.”
Now the centuries-old practice of farmed dogs for meat in South Korea is in decline, and dog meat is primarily eaten by seniors and foreign visitors. In January 2024, the South Korean National Assembly passed a law to ban the dog meat trade which will take full effect in February 2027. The South Korean Agricultural Ministry is offering dog meat farmers financial compensation if they cease operations and relinquish their dogs before the end of the grace period.
So, in the meantime, what happens to South Korean dogs on meat farms like Frank Sinatra?
Get To Know Frank Sinatra the Golden Retriever x Samoyed Mix
Frank Sinatra’s smile can light up a room! Large at around 57 pounds, Frank is a big softie who loves everyone he meets. Frank is good with other dogs and likes kids, but would do best with gentle kiddos who understand how to be respectful towards dogs. Frank loves to go for walks and car rides, but his favorite thing of all is to get affection from his humans.
Frank’s early life was stressful and likely traumatic. From life on a dog meat farm to flying across the world, Frank has been through a lot. Ginger’s Pet Rescue recommends that anyone adopting dogs from Korean meat farms either have the training and canine behavior experience or hire a trainer to work with when their new dog comes home.
Frank is being fostered through Ginger’s Pet Rescue in Federal Way, Washington. For more information and an adoption application for Frank Sinatra please email [email protected].
How Prominent Is The South Korean Dog Meat Industry?
“In a 2022 survey by Gallup Korea, 64% of respondents were against eating dog meat – a notable increase from a similar survey in 2015.
The number of respondents who had eaten dog meat in the past year had also fallen, from 27% in 2015, to just 8% in 2022,” says Jessie Yeung et al. (2024) in an article for CNN.
Restaurants serving dog meat in South Korea are reporting a decline of 20–30% each year, and most dog meat restaurants have closed in major cities, with only around 100 remaining in Seoul.
While past estimates have suggested that over a million dogs are slaughtered on meat farms in South Korea each year, recent data from the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of South Korea say that the numbers are now closer to 388,000–521,000 dogs.
Currently, in a grace period before the law banning the raising, slaughter, and sale of dog meat for consumption takes effect in 2027, South Korean dogs still at meat farms are eligible to be sold to the country’s agricultural ministry, but may still be used to fulfill demand from the few people still eating dog meat.
The South Korean dog meat trade ban has received widespread support from South Korean citizens and its government, with President Yoon Suk Yeol and First Lady Kim Keon-hee speaking publicly on the matter regularly.
The Dog Meat Trade Internationally
Humane Society International estimates that as many as 40 million dogs and cats are killed for human consumption annually. While this number may seem shocking, it’s worth noting that the majority of people in countries where dog/cat meat is legal do not consume dog or cat meat.
“We hope that other countries across Asia where the dog meat trade persists despite public opposition will follow South Korea’s lead so that innocent victims of this brutal dog meat industry have a chance of a happy life,” says Humane Society International Korea’s end dog meat campaign manager Sangkyung Lee.
Animal rights activists and international groups working to end animal cruelty have worked for decades in countries like South Korea, China, Vietnam, India, and Indonesia to address the dog and cat meat trade. While the topic incurs plenty of passion from animal lovers worldwide, banning dog meat is not a simple matter. Ethical issues exist on both ends of the issue, and fear-mongering and misinformation—like the over-exaggeration of how many pet dogs are stolen for the meat trade—only hinder progress.
“My mission in those first years of the organization was to bring awareness to people around the world about the dog meat trade, to save animals from it, and to get a legal ban on it in Vietnam. It is what all the anti-dog meat organizations have been saying all along, none of whom have made any real headway in all this time. Slowly, the flawed rationale behind this began to break down for me even if it was not happening for others I worked with or any of our supporters,” says Catherine Besch, founder of Vietnam Animal Aid and Rescue-US.
“No one wanted to question what would happen to all the dogs who will not be killed if a dog meat ban goes into effect. No discussion arose of who would do the sterilizations to prevent a population explosion and eventual cull because international organizations had no clue that 95% of Vietnamese veterinarians could not perform a safe sterilization surgery,” continues Besch.
It is positive that there is forward motion in the effort to end the dog and cat meat trade, and careful sensitivity is important for both the economic, cultural, and social impacts of these bans.
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