Simon Cowell isn’t often moved to tears. However, the America’s Got Talent judge and executive producer couldn’t hold back recently when he met one of the dogs he helped save from a South Korean dog meat farm. According to People, Cowell donated over $32,000 to Humane Society International (HSI) in 2018, which aided HSI in a significant rescue operation for dogs that would have otherwise been sent to slaughterhouses in South Korea. Cowell met one of these dogs during an appearance on Good Morning Britain. The show’s correspondent, Philippa Tomson, had adopted one of the rescued pups and brought it with her for the interview with Cowell.
Tomson introduced Cowell to her dog and discussed the ongoing efforts to end the dog meat trade in Asia. A longtime advocate for animal rights and a dog lover, Cowell became emotional thinking about the fate of other dogs who might not be as fortunate as Robin. HSI helped shut down this dog meat farm and rescued the animals held there.
“This is tough for me… but it’s essential because, without people like you, he’d probably be in someone’s stomach,” Cowell told Tomson during the interview. “Now you think about that, right? And dogs will give their lives for you. They really would… they’ll protect your children, they put their lives ahead of your children. I’ve seen it with my dogs, and my dogs are tiny. So what you are doing is so important, bless you.”
HSI has so far closed down 16 dog meat farms in Asia, rescuing nearly 2,000 dogs from these farms, many of whom have now found loving homes. “Simon’s generous donation helped us save Robin and all the dogs languishing on the meat farm,” reads a press release from HSI’s Wendy Higgins. “We found them in the most appalling conditions, trapped in barren, rusty wire cages, with many of them really suffering. With each dog farm we close and each farmer we help transition to a more humane enterprise, we’re demonstrating to the South Korean authorities that it’s possible to end this cruel trade. Most people in South Korea don’t eat dog, and there are increasing calls within the country to end this brutal trade.”
According to HSI, as many as 30 million dogs are still slaughtered for meat each year. Efforts like this go a long way towards saving these animals, bringing us closer to banning the dog meat trade completely.
