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Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from KK9R! We’re thankful for some many things and have wonderful updates to share.

Our director recently returned from Korea. In addition to her trip to the Pocheon shelter, she got the chance to visit our Bundang rescue and rehabilitation center. It was in Bundang that she was able to see our Korean team’s hard work and commitment first hand. The staff, volunteers and trainers provide our rescue puppies and dogs with the best possible experiences they can have before coming to New York for adoption locally and in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Washington D.C., and Maryland. This is accomplished through the best possible medical care and rehabilitative training, followed by the dogs’ transport to the US. We have so much gratitude for every member of the Bundang team, along with the volunteers who carry out rescue missions in Korea and the various Korean animal welfare organizations we’ve been lucky enough to partner with. And, as ever, we are so grateful to our amazing community of alumni, fosters, and volunteers. We couldn’t do what we do without you!

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We rescued dogs from Pocheon!

Our Director just got back from her trip to South Korea, where she visited our Korean facilities. This included a trip to the Pocheon shelter. In the three years since Pocheon City shut down the shelter (previously known as Aerinwon), we’ve rescued 800 dogs. Our rescue has taken in almost 300 dogs personally. Thank you also to our collaborators Beagle Rescue Network and Korean K9 Rescue Korea!

Now, we’re facing the challenge of rescuing and rehabilitating the 382 dogs still remaining at Aerinwon. Given their negative experiences with humans in the past, the dogs won’t accept a human’s touch or gaze. But the volunteers in Korea work hard every day to improve every dog’s perception of people. When our Director was at the Pocheon shelter, she evaluated and selected the 14 puppies and dogs with the highest chance of rehabilitation. It will still take time and effort for these dogs to gain trust in people, but we believe in them.

We’re currently trying to raise $2,500 to cover the costs of medical care and rehabilitation for these 14 dogs, who are now at our Bundang facility. You can donate to the fundraiser via our Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/linking/fundraiser?fundraiser_id=673556730295530) or through Venmo (@koreank9rescue; code 0333). Your support leads to these dogs finding their forever homes in NYC, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Washington D.C., and Maryland. We’re so grateful to you for being a part of our amazing community and participating in our efforts to give these dogs a second chance!

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Our SYM & Howl-o-ween Recap!

We celebrated Halloween this year with our Strut Your Mutt walk and 5th Annual Howloween Party at McCarren Park Dog Run in New York City! Both Strut Your Mutt and Howloween were virtual events last year, so we were excited to see everyone in person and very pleased with the turnout. We had over 150 attendees join us, including 71 pups, all KK9R alumni, that participated in our costume contest! The winners were:

1st Place – Gilly as Monty Python’s Rabbit Killer
2nd Place – Hannah as “Work-From-Home Hannah”
3rd Place – Wilbur as a Starbucks Puppuccino

Thank you to NYC Pet for sponsoring the costume contest and donating gift cards to the winners! We’d also like to thank Rescue Train Repeat for leading the Strut Your Mutt walk and Jen at The Ways of the Dog for taking photos, which you can see here: https://jenhillenga.pixieset.com/kk9strutyourmutt/.

From these two awesome events, we raised $7,246 and it’s all going towards the rescue and adoption of even more dogs who will find their forever homes in NYC, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Washington D.C., and Maryland. We’re so grateful for our amazing community that supports our mission! If you’re looking to adopt a puppy or older dog from our rescue, please check our Adopt page. We can’t wait for you to be part of our alumni, foster, or volunteer community!

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Our 2020 Annual Report is Ready!

Want an overview of everything we were able to accomplish in the midst of last year’s COVID-19 crisis? If so, be sure to check out our newly published 2020 Annual Report.

The pandemic brought with it a new set of challenges for our rescue. We found ourselves in need of more support than ever before as the cost of bringing dogs from Korea to the U.S. rose. But we persevered and successfully rescued over 450 dogs with the help of our amazing volunteers and the wonderful community KK9R has brought together.

To learn more about last year’s fundraising efforts, our VIP adoptions, the new facility in Bundang, and everything else that made 2020 remarkable for our rescue, take a look at the report. We hope it inspires you to join the dog rescue movement. Our adoption radius currently includes select areas within New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., Maryland, and Massachusetts. For full details on our adoption radius and procedures, please check our Adopt page. We’re looking forward to having you join our alumni, foster, or volunteer community!

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We rescued dogs from Nonsan Shelter!

On July 19th, we rescued 17 dogs from a very poor city shelter in Nonsan, Korea with a mission to fully vet and rehabilitate these precious souls. We then hosted a Summer Party and Raffle in NY where your generous donations raised over $8,000, and helped these dogs get the care they needed. Our amazing, heroic @koreank9rescue.kr staff has been working day and night to care for, and rehabilitate these pups. We cannot thank you enough for opening your hearts and helping us achieve our goals!

Over the next 3-4 weeks these dogs will be arriving to NY and available for adoption within our adoption radius, and we hope you will continue to support our mission by adopting, fostering, and volunteering.

You can find out the incoming dogs scheduled to NY, by joining our Patreon as a member, and also have access to exclusive content inside our Bundang rescue facility. Thank you for supporting our efforts in Korea!

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We hope this rescue mission inspires to join the dog rescue movement! ⁠Our adoption radius currently includes select areas within New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., Maryland, and Massachusetts. For full details on our adoption radius and procedures, please check our Adopt page. We’re looking forward to having you join our alumni, foster, or volunteer community!

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We're expanding to Boston, MA!

After many months of waiting, we are proud to announce that Korean K9 Rescue is approved to do adoptions in the state of Massachusetts!

As many of you may not know, MA has strict rescue import requirements and we appreciate our supporters in MA waiting so patiently for us to expand our radius. We are the first Korean dog rescue group approved to do official adoptions in MA and we do not take this opportunity lightly. We must follow the import and quarantine requirements mandated by the state and we intend to make some amazing adoptions happen!

Beginning September 1, we will be accepting applications within a 30-mile radius of Boston, MA. Other areas of MA will be considered on a case by case basis. Please read our adoption procedures for MA residents on our Adoption FAQ. We are so excited for the future of our rescue pups and new adopters in MA! Thank you again for your patience and support!

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⁠Our adoption radius currently includes select areas within New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., Maryland, and Massachusetts. For full details on our adoption radius and procedures, please check our Adopt page. We’re looking forward to having you join our alumni, foster, or volunteer community!

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We didn't give up on Yongin!

Our rescue mission never stops! Back in April and May, we rescued dozens of dogs from two separate dog meat farms next to each other in Yongin, Korea. The owner of the smaller dog farm kept this beautiful Chow and Corgi on a chain outside of the farm living in trash and drinking and eating filthy waste. For months, our manager tried to persuade the owners to give up these poor dogs to our rescue for a better life, and he refused. Finally, she showed him how one of the former dogs they let go a few months ago, @bigpoppylove, was living her best life with a loving family. The owners then finally agreed to surrender the Chow and Corgi! We are elated to welcome them into our facility at Bundang, where they will recover and grow healthy enough to travel to the US for a better life! Also, the farmer kept one dog and is allowing @koreank9rescue.kr to neuter, vet, and build an outdoor run for his dog. These dogs are lucky, but for so many dogs living across the rural countryside, many do not survive more than a few years living on a chain in harsh outdoor conditions. Please help us continue to change their lives and make a difference by donating, fostering, and volunteering. Thank you so much for being so supportive.

We hope this rescue mission inspires to join the dog rescue movement! ⁠Our adoption radius currently includes select areas within New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., and Maryland. For full details on our adoption radius and procedures, please check our Adopt page. We’re looking forward to having you join our alumni, foster, or volunteer community!

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Our Rescue Mission in Uijeongbu!

Earlier this week, our team in Korea participated in a joint rescue mission with Animal Kara to rescue 31 dogs from a huge slaughterhouse in Uijeongbu. This slaughterhouse was the center of dog meat distribution in the Gyeonggi-do region of Seoul. It served as the main distributor of dog meat and this rescue and closure will disrupt the flow of demand, especially during these hot summer months of Boknal.

We started early in the morning and finished removing the dogs late into the night which was no easy task. The remains of dead dogs that were dismembered and tortured were lying everywhere. The smell of rotting internal organs filled the hot summer air and sickened our volunteers. But they remained steadfast in their resolve to clear the living dogs out of this hellhole and bring them to safety. Some of the dogs were marked with red spray paint, a mark of death. Some were clearly a former pet or perhaps family dogs at one time. Regardless of their breed these dogs narrowly escaped the cruel fate of electrocution in water, beating, hanging, and torture until death.

It is a small segment of the population who consume dog meat, and we want to remind you that this small percentage does not speak or represent the entire Korean community. As horrific as this slaughterhouse was, concerned citizens investigated and reported the torture and cruelty to the authorities to stop the killings. This is happening across Korea, the demand for change, and appeal to humanity for animals is sweeping.

Thanks to all of your support we were able to reach our fundraising goal of $6,000 to help us bring these dogs here for a better future and new life. It will be no easy task to heal and rehabilitate these dogs, but our team won’t give up until dog meat is eradicated forever. While we have closed our fundraiser, any additional donations could to support our mission can be made on our Donate page.

We hope this rescue mission inspires to join the dog rescue movement! ⁠Our adoption radius currently includes select areas within New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., and Maryland. For full details on our adoption radius and procedures, please check our Adopt page. We’re looking forward to having you join our alumni, foster, or volunteer community!

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An Important Update about Kwan!

A big update for everyone who has been following Kwan’s journey.

Back in February, we raised $16,826 to help Kwan, a sweet dog who was left paralyzed on the side of the road. When we launched our fundraiser, it was our goal to get her healthy enough to travel to NYC for treatment. Since closing our fundraiser, Kwan’s recovery process became longer and more difficult than we ever could have imagined. Between a life-threatening infection, extensive heartworm treatment, and the confirmed severity of her spinal injuries, it has become clear that traveling to NYC will not be a safe journey for Kwan. But that doesn’t mean that KK9R is giving up.

The silver lining in Kwan’s story is that her patient and loving foster in Korea has fallen in love with Kwan, and has decided to adopt her! All of the money we raised in February will go towards Kwan’s continued care under the guidance of our team in Korea. We are struggling to find a surgeon in Korea that is willing to perform the surgery she needs to have a chance at walking, and if we aren’t successful, she will need years of physical therapy. Both options will be costly, and we are eternally grateful for everyone’s support of Kwan.

We are at peace knowing that Kwan has been adopted by an amazing forever family that loves her for all she is, and is dedicated to working with her through all that lies ahead. Thank you to everyone that donated to Kwan’s care— she wouldn’t have survived without your contributions!

We hope Kwan’s adoption story has inspired to join the dog rescue movement! ⁠Our adoption radius currently includes select areas within New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., and Maryland. For full details on our adoption radius and procedures, please check our Adopt page. We’re looking forward to having you join our alumni community!

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Shoutout to Sunny and her Adopter!

This past January, Sunny (formerly known as Mellee) was adopted by Francis and her boyfriend. Ever since, Sunny has had an amazing forever home and has drastically improved the lives of her pawrents at the same time. Sunny and her mom were featured in Women’s Health Magazine article about how dogs have helped mental health for the owners. We’re honored that our rescue was mentioned in the article and hope that it helps spread awareness about the adoption movement. Check out the article when you get a chance and also follow Sunny on Instagram!
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If you’re a first time adopter, let this be a sign… you’re not in it alone! Our incredible group of alumni are here for you every step of the way, from vet recommendations to toy suggestions, and everything in between. ⁠Our adoption radius currently includes select areas within New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., and Maryland. For full details on our adoption radius and procedures, please check our Adopt page. We’re looking forward to having you join our alumni community!