We were fortunate to be interviewed by WPBF on July 20th. Take a look at Simon’s story with his new mom Taylor.
Dogs rescued from Chinese meat market, brought to South Florida
Video shows horrific abuse of dogs
https://www.wpbf.com/article/dogs-rescued-from-chinese-meat-market-brought-to-south-florida/33373338
Updated: 11:19 PM EDT Jul 20, 2020
LOXAHATCHEE, Fla. —
Taylor Thompson has only had Simon for two weeks, but it’s already true love.
“He’s very protective. He’s very sweet. He’s very loyal,” Thompson said of Simon. “He’s just a super dog all around.”
Simon is almost 2 years old.
He’s a rare breed called a Kunming, found almost exclusively in China.
“From where he came from to where is now, it’s phenomenal that he doesn’t hold a grudge about anything,” Thompson said.
Thompson first saw Simon in a video shown to her by a friend.
The video shows Simon in a small cage with many other dogs.
A man walks over and uses a pole to lift Simon up and slam him against a truck, before pushing him into the truck bed.
Simon was in the middle of the Chinese meat trade.
“They do unfortunately eat dogs in China,” Thompson said. “He was, unfortunately, going to be somebody’s next meal.”
Simon was on his way to the slaughterhouse when was saved by an animal rescue in Loxahatchee called Elite Greyhound Adoptions.
“They literally are sold for their meat,” said Sonia Stratemann, founder of the rescue. “You can see in Simon’s video. They literally are thrown in and weighed and then taken to the slaughterhouse.”
Stratemann was actually in China and saw Simon’s abuse with her own eyes.
Stratemann’s rescue usually only focuses on Greyhounds, but she fell in love with the Kunmings.
She’s now rescued 15 of them from the meat market.
“They call them the forgotten breed in China,” Stratemann said. “They’re in the shelters. Nobody ever takes them. Rescues don’t take them.”
Elite Greyhound Adoptions takes them, along with as many other dogs as they can save.
“This dog has so much soul,” Thompson said of Simon. “He has so much personality and the kindest heart ever.”
He also now has a home.
Both Thompson and Stratemann said they wish they could save more dogs, but they also recognize they’re doing what they can.
“Even though it can’t the life for every single dog, in that one dog’s eyes, it’s a miracle,” Thompson said.
The pandemic has halted flights from China, so they have not been able to rescue any dogs from the meat trade for months.
Stratemann said she has 40 dogs lined up to be on the first flight they can get on.
For more information on the rescue, you can go to elitegreyhounds.org.
Dogs are waiting for us in China when we are allowed to fly again…
We have ~30 dogs awaiting us in China. We work with our friends at Rushton Dog Rescue about 22 greyhounds and whippets who were going to be sold to the slaughterhouse.
We were happy to help and have taken over the expenses.
The dogs will all stay at the vets in China until they have been fully vetted.
We have flights scheduled for the first week in April and hope to get everyone back to Florida at that time.
We could really use help with vet expenses and flights. We will keep this page updated with the dogs progress.
Thank you!