Remember a few weeks ago when we told you the story about a dog named Free who we rescued with our partner, Jindo Love Rescue, after an image of him chained so tightly he could barely sit down went viral in South Korea? Thanks to your generous support, he was finally adopted and flown to the U.S. this month, where he met his new family for the first time.

Free, whose image went viral in January 2021, had spent most of his life chained without shelter or consistent access to food and water. His supposed guardian was raising him to be a hunting dog or for meat, but he was in such poor condition it’s most likely he would have been slaughtered.

His indifferent guardian initially refused to give him up, but finally gave in to pressure and surrendered him for a price, and he was taken to Jindo Love Rescue’s foster center in Gimhae where he had a full veterinary exam, was treated for heartworm and neutered. 

When he was rescued, a volunteer named him “Free” and told him that he would never suffer like that again — that he would never be chained, starved, abused, sad, or tortured, but that he would be free from harm, and free to live the wonderful life that he has always deserved.

Despite never being shown love or affection from humans, he was still filled with love himself. He absolutely adores people, and he was very popular at the foster center with other dogs.

We had so many families wanting him, and interviewed many, but we focused on the kind of life we wanted for him and we wanted it to be exceptional — and we finally found the perfect forever family!

Free, who goes by Kola now, was adopted by Azadeh Rahmani, her husband Farzad Seihoun and their rescue dog Tonka, who finally got to meet him when he arrived in New York City this month.

Azadeh told us she felt a connection with Kola when she saw his picture, and could see in his eyes that he wanted desperately to belong to a family. She hopes his story inspires people to adopt instead of shop, and to open their hearts and homes to older dogs and give them a chance to be loved and cared for because they will return the favor with everything in their being. She also hopes that Kola will be an example of resilience and spirit in the face of adversity.

Your generous support makes heartwarming outcomes like this possible. Kola’s now going to get to live his best life, and we hope to save many more dogs as deserving of love as he is from becoming victims of the dog meat trade. 

You can be part of this lifesaving mission by making a donation, spreading the word about our urgent need for flight volunteers and adopting.