America’s Got Talent Judge Simon Cowell Donates $32,575 to Close South Korean Dog Meat Farm

September 29, 2018   

Simon Cowell, the 58-year-old America’s Got Talent (AGT) judge and a dog lover, donated £25,000 ($32,575) to Humane Society International (HSI) in an effort to close a dog meat farm in South Korea, according to a Facebook post by HSI on Sept. 27.

“We are excited to announce that Simon Cowell has just donated a HUGE £25,000 to HSI to help us close down a dog meat farm in South Korea saving over 200 dogs from being killed and eaten,” HSI said in the post, “We work with dog meat farmers who wish to leave this dying industry and help them switch to alternative livelihoods of their choice that do not involve any animal agriculture.”

According to HSI, they will use the money to rescue 200 plus dog from the dog meat farm. This will be the 13th dog meat farm in South Korea closed by HSI. The total number of dogs saved by HSI will amount to 1,600.

Producer Simon Cowell arrives at the National Music Awards at the Carling Hammersmith Apollo in London, on Oct. 26, 2003. (Bruno Vincent/Getty Images)

“With every dog farm we close and every farmer we help [to] switch to a more profitable, humane business,” HSI said in a Facebook post, “we’re showing the South Korean government that it’s possible to end this cruel trade.”

The dog meat farmer has signed the contract and HSI’s Animal Rescue Teamwill leave for South Korea to rescue the 200 plus dogs early on the week of Sept. 30, according to an update from HSI on Sept. 26, 2018.

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UPDATE: Thanks to your generous support, we have met our matching gift goal of £25,000! A huge THANK YOU to everyone who has donated & to @SimonCowell for your incredible gift. Please stay tuned for updates as we begin to rescue 200+ dogs from the SK dog meat farm next week!

A small number of the 200 plus dogs will be re-homed in the United Kingdom, the rest will be transported to Canada, the United States, and the Netherlands. HSI partner shelters in these countries will help to find new owners for the dogs.

The music mogul Cowell has long been a supporter of HSI’s #EndDogMeat campaign. He once told Good Morning Britain that eating a dog would be like “eating your friend. It’s the fact you’re eating such a kind, helpless, sweet animal.”

South Korean has a long history of eating dog meat, originating from the Three Kingdoms of Korea period during the first century A.D.

According to a press release by HSI, eating dog meat is fast declining in popularity in South Korea, particularly among the younger generation.

However, thousands of dog meat farms still exist in South Korea. Around 2.5 million dogs are being bred for human consumption, HSI said.

A South Korean court ruling made the killing of dogs for meat illegal in a landmark decision in June 2018. Animal rights group Care, sued a dog farm operator in the case, arguing that meat consumption was not a legal reason to kill dogs. The decision paved the way for outlawing dog meat consumption entirely in South Korea, Kim Kyung-eun, a lawyer for Care, told AFP.

Nearly 1 million people signed a petition in 2018 to end the dog meat trade in South Korea, and it was delivered to President Moon Jae-in’s residence in August.

A petition to end the dog meat trade in Asia is available on HSI’s website.