Simon Cowell isn’t delivered to tears fairly often. But The America’s Got Talent judge and executive producer couldn’t twiddle my thumbs when he recently met one among the dogs he saved from a South Korean dog meat farm.
According to People, Cowell donated over $32,000 to Humane Society International in 2018, which helped HSI fund an outsized rescue of dogs who were otherwise headed to slaughterhouses in South Korea. Cowell met one among the dogs during an appearance on “Good Morning Britain.” The show’s news correspondent Philippa Tomson had adopted one among the rescued pups, and brought it on during her chat with the AGT personality.
Tomson brought Cowell to her section and talked about the work being done to complete the dog trade in Asia. Cowell, a long-time advocate for animal rights and a dog lover, got choked up when he considered the fate of other dogs who might not are as lucky as Robin.
HSI helped close this dog meat farm and rescue the animals that were held there.
“This is difficult on behalf of me … but it's important because, without people such as you , he’d basically be in someone’s stomach,” Cowell tells Thompson during the interview. “Now you think that right? And dogs will hand over their lives for you. They really would … and they’ll take care of your kids, they put their lives ahead of your kids. I’ve seen it with my dogs, and my dogs are tiny. So what you are doing is so important, bless you.”
HSI has thus far closed down 16 dog meat farms in Asia, rescuing quite 2,000 dogs from those farms, many that now have found loving homes.
“Simon’s generous donation helped us save Robin and everyone the dogs languishing on the meat farm,” reads a press release from HSI’s Wendy Higgins. “We found them within the most appalling conditions, stuck in barren, rusty wire cages, and lots of them were really suffering. With every dog farm we close and each farmer we help switch to a more profitable, humane business, we’re demonstrating to the South Korean government that it’s possible to finish this cruel trade. Most of the people in South Korea don’t eat dogs, and there are increasingly vocal calls within the country for an end to the present brutal industry.”
According to HSI, there are still as many as 30 million dogs slaughtered for meat per annum. Efforts like this go an extended (thanks) to saving those animals, bringing us closer to banning the dog meat trade permanently .