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The Story of My Puppy, Gyodong
by Haesun Park (IAKA representative in South Korea and KAPES co-founder)
Being the owner of a company that installs ticket dispensers at parking lots, I went to meet a client in late August. Entering this parking lot in the Jugyodong district of Seoul I stumbled upon a tiny 2-month-old mixed breed puppy tied up next to the office. The owner of the puppy, one of the parking lot attendants, gave it the nickname little lunch box. This nickname was born of the mainstream Korean view that mixed breed dogs are good only for eating. Needless to say the puppy did not greet me with waging tail and licks. All I got was the saddest glance.
The puppy clouding my thoughts, I returned to my office. Many puppies in Korea are destined for someone’s stomach, but I lost sleep over this one. I resolved to return to the parking lot and save 3lb little lunch box from its horrible fate.
My request to take the puppy was met with disbelief. “Why would you want a mixed breed for a pet,” the attendant inquired. All dogs are the same, deserving equal love and care I told him. “That’s all well and good,” he replied, “but this puppy will cost you 50,000 won.” Sixty dollars makes for a very expensive puppy! Twenty pounds of dog could be purchased for this sum at the local dog markets, so completing the transaction made quite an impression. In fact, a shade of embarrassment showed on the attendant’s face, and as a farewell he grabbed a paw and wished the puppy, “a good life in a good home.”
The little guy, who I renamed Gyodong, slept comfortably on my lap the entire drive back home, signaling a subtle approval of the new direction his life had taken. I took him to the vet for a check-up. Except for some common parasites Gyodong got a clean bill of health. He was subsequently neutered and registered with a microchip. The level of attention he was now receiving markedly changed his disposition. He was chipper and bursting with energy, finding endless pleasure in harassing my five cats.
The puppy came with me to the office on work days. My employees initially felt uneasy being in the presence of a mixed breed. Their discomfort would seep out in quips: “We’ll see where Gyodong is next Bok Day (these are the hottest days of summer, when dog is most commonly consumed).” I answered them with my opinion, and the employees were witness to my training of the puppy. They observed how quickly he learned to sit, shake, roll and potty in the correct spot. This loosened them up. One of my employees, who had a deep fear of dogs stemming from a childhood bite, told me that Gyodong changed his perceptions completely.
The positive changes Gyodong brought about in people gives light to the urgent need for animal education in Korea. Compassionate people are trapped in incorrect views of mixed breed dogs simply through ignorance. And how quickly these views can change!