As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vastly suspends international flights for dogs, rescuers from South Korea who have avoided the ban, but have been hampered in the wake of COVID-19, are urgently seeking flight volunteers to act as couriers for dogs saved from the dog meat trade. Four sweet dogs saved by In Defense of Animals and Jindo Love Rescue are currently waiting for a flight from Seoul to New York City.
“These dogs have overcome so much, and we couldn’t be happier that they’re about to start new lives in the U.S., but being able to get them to their new homes has become a major hurdle. We hope more people will volunteer to help get them on their way. It doesn’t require anything but some extra time for travelers, and it means the world to these dogs,” said Patti Kim, President of Jindo Love Rescue.
Since partnering 2017, In Defense of Animals and Jindo Love Rescue have rescued hundreds of dogs from South Korea’s dog meat trade and found them loving forever homes in the U.S. and Canada.
Four of these rescued dogs, Moon Moon, Kia, and bonded sisters Thelma and Louise, are ready to go to families who are waiting for them, but they need someone to escort them on flights via Korean Air or Asiana Airlines from Incheon International Airport to JFK International Airport.
“Our efforts have been drastically hampered by shelter in place measures, a decreased number of travelers, canceled flights and travel bans as the world attempted to stop the spread of COVID-19. We rely on travelers who volunteer to bring dogs to North America from South Korea, but now dogs who have adopters waiting for them are still being left stuck without a flight. The cost of our Plan B option of flying dogs via cargo was increased significantly at the start of the pandemic, making it unaffordable — especially for large dogs — and now airports are increasingly requiring brokers to get through U.S. Customs, which is adding to the cost,” said Fleur Dawes, Communications Director for In Defense of Animals.
Not only are travel difficulties affecting dogs who are waiting to get to their new homes, it’s stifling rescuers’ ability to save more. Costs to care for dogs continue to mount every day they are delayed, and room isn’t opening up to allow for more dogs to come in. Jindo Love Rescue and In Defense of Animals are currently caring for approximately 100 dogs at their foster center in Gimhae.
Just one traveler can save two lives, and volunteering to travel with a rescued dog doesn’t involve much more than allocating some extra time before departing and after arriving. Jindo Love Rescue takes care of all the details, costs and paperwork for customs beforehand, and adopters will be waiting when volunteer transporters land at their destination.
Passengers taking flights any time from Seoul to airports in the U.S., including Atlanta (ATL), Boston (BOS), Chicago (ORD), Dallas (DFW), Las Vegas (LAS), Los Angeles (LAX), New York (JFK), San Francisco (SFO), Seattle (SEA) and Washington, D.C. (Dulles and IAD), are being encouraged to volunteer to fly dogs to their forever homes.
Interested parties should check www.idausa.org/flightvolunteer for more information on how to become a flight volunteer.
