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Nurungi’s Story
CHANGE IS DIFFICULT TO come by. As anyone who has tried to break a bad habit can tell you, it is tough to change your life, your attitudes, or even the way you eat. Societal change comes even more slowly. This is why IAKA and KAPES have chosen to focus on educating Korea’s youngest citizens, who have been raised in a more animal-friendly environment than the war-torn early 20th Century 
of their parents’ generation. Dog and cat meat consumption in particular is a remnant of this era, as the actions of young animal lovers like Sunhee Cho will suggest.
Sunhee Cho (whose name has been changed) is a young married woman from Gongju City, Choongchung Province. Like many her age, she is interested in the welfare of dogs and cats. Sunhee first met Nurungi (which means “yellow dog” in Korean) when she was a puppy. Nurungi was being raised at her father in law’s to be eaten when she grew to be one year in age. According to myths in some parts of Korea, raising the dog for one year and then consuming it is good luck—the plan was to throw a party to celebrate the slaughtering and eating of Nurungi.
After many sleepless nights, Sunhee decided that something had to be done to protect the dog she had loved since puppyhood. On the eve of her father in law’s party, Sunhee quietly took Nurungi to an IAKA/KAPES supported shelter in Daejeon (also mentioned in this newsletter) run by Ms. Park.
At the shelter, Ms. Park planned to try to adopt Nurungi after ensuring her health and rehabilitating her if necessary. Unfortunately, Nurungi was diagnosed with the late stages of a heartworm infection (another issue IAKA and KAPES are working to educate pet owners about). Though she would later fall victim to her disease, Nurungi remains special to us as a reminder of one young person’s love for animals—and the future of dogs and cats in Korea under the stewardship of people like her. ‡
