You can’t strike up a conversation with Marc Ching and not get choked up. His pain is palpable even through a phone line. It goes straight to your gut and leaves you questioning everything you knew about the human kind.
Are we the evolved species ? How did we get here …?
He got choked up himself a few times and I could tell there were tears rolling down his face as he was recollecting a memory from his last trip to Asia. A dog in a slaughterhouse after having been skinned still alive and thrown on the slaughterhouse floor, in his agony still crawled to a human in search of some kind of comfort while taking his last breath.
I felt my soul getting dark and shattered as I heard my own babies running through the house, and I could never imagine them becoming dinner for someone, much less being tortured first.
What happened to us ? How did we lose our ability to feel compassion for other beings sharing the same Planet as us ? If we don’t have the capability to exercise compassion than what are we ? Are we even human anymore ? Or just savages going 1000 miles / hour in the opposite direction we need to go?
According to the Humane Society, an estimated 30 million dogs are eaten annually worldwide.
Let that sink in for a moment…
Meet Joy. She was rescued from a farm that was shut down by Marc Ching in South Korea.
I keep asking myself over and over again, and also wanted to hear it from Marc: how did we get to accept animal genocide as a norm and birthright all while pretending to give thanks to God for all his blessing…?!
I asked Marc: Why do you think we do the things we do and is there hope ?
His answer: ” because perversion is at its high with very little hope.”
Yet in spite of all the perversion and torture he has witnessed, he still believes in compassion and humanity.
Marc opened up about his adoption as a child, about the time he went to prison at only 20 years old and how that changed who he is today.
He says: “ I know what it’s like to be in a cage. You have hope that someone’s gonna save you. I don’t really believe in God anymore, it’s difficult when you live this type of life. I believe in humanity, forgiveness, compassion, I hope God exists and that there’s something after. I hope there is some type of salvation for those who have none “
I felt myself getting chocked up yet again, and the irony here is that someone who doesn’t believe in God anymore just gave me hope.
We talked about his first trip to China in September 2015.
He went to see with his own eyes that the Dog Meat Festival was real!
He told me how he went from reporting to a rescue mission. We talked about the 57 dogs, a duck and a lamb he rescued on that trip and how amazing it felt. So he went back again, just to see the deep darkness that brought him on the verge of suicide where he realized he could not live his life If he stopped doing this.
So he went back again and again, risking his own life intercepting trucks in transit filled with up to 1200 dogs at times on their way to the slaughterhouse. Dogs are not considered livestock and so there are no regulations.
Dog meat isn’t inspected, it isn’t illegal and it’s not legal.
He also told me about a man he met in Cambodia, a human being who sold his own 2 children into the sex trade and who owned a high torture slaughterhouse. They eventually shut it down, stopped the trade and even helped this person set up a successful business. That same man went on to become a speaker against slaughtering animals.
Florentina: Why do you keep doing this, torturing yourself in the process ? What is your life’s purpose ?
Marc Ching: My purpose is that I gotta be there, to be standing there to pass legislation to save animals.
It was after seeing one of Marc’s videos in my Facebook feed that I went vegetarian right here on this food blog, and then fully vegan and starting the Veggie Society project. I couldn’t reconcile that we were doing the same exact things to other animals right here in the USA as it was being done to dogs in Asia. I had to immediately stop promoting the slaughter and torture of animals via my food blog and start doing my part to help by being a voice for these animal’s souls.
The purpose of this very article is simply to bring awareness about the reality of life for these dogs and to help make a difference, because together we can change.
At the end of our conversation we agreed that our only hope is education, and Marc already has set in motion some educational programs through his foundation.
He made it clear a few times that he doesn’t want this to be about him, it is about the dogs and their suffering.
Personally I believe we found our cure for ignorance thanks to Marc Ching, but it is still up to each one of us to use it.
Here are a few ways you can help!
L.A. Friends: you can drop donations off at The Animals Hope and Wellness foundation found at 14456 Ventura Blvd, Sherman Oaks, CA 91433. Or call (747) 998-5568
Marc Ching is the founder of The Animal Hope and Wellness Foundation, an organization that rescues and rehabilitates extremely abused dogs from the meat trade farms and markets and finding them homes with good humans.
Stacie
November 30, 2017 at 4:02 amI find eating dog to be disgusting. I understand that it is a cultural thing among some in the world, but it’s always so, so, so vicious and violent. The violence level of what they do to these dogs is beyond anything I’ve ever seen in a video about cows or other livestock. It feels like it’s vicious just to be vicious.
Scott
November 30, 2017 at 6:00 amI cannot fathom wanting to eat a dog. There are so many better choices – glad to see someone’s trying to do something about it!
Jeanette
November 30, 2017 at 6:24 amThis is something that would totally break my heart! I am such a dog lover I can’t believe there at people out there that want to hurt them! God bless this man for doing what he is doing!
Florentina
November 30, 2017 at 1:00 pmI know, right ?! This was the most difficult article I’ve ever written because I just could not forget what I saw and the reality of what we are doing to animals. We need saving as a species, I hope we’ll find it. Xo’s ~ Florentina
Randi
November 30, 2017 at 6:50 amOh my gosh, I have no words. I honestly can’t believe we allow things like that to go on … and yet, if sex trafficking can be so rampant and people can degrade humans to such a degree, how can we ever expect that people will treat animals any better? What an amazing mission Marc has.
Florentina
November 30, 2017 at 1:02 pmYou are absolutely 100% right! I can’t forget all the things I’ve seen and heard. My soul still feels so dark and helpless as I just don’t know how we can truly stop the vile violent behavior against one another.
Jonna
November 30, 2017 at 1:31 pmThere is so much going on around the world, It is great to hear that individuals can make a difference. Thank you for sharing this story and educating about a very serious problem.
Dawn Lopez
November 30, 2017 at 5:51 pmThis interview just breaks my heart! I just can never understand how humans can torture animals like that. I’m so glad that people like Marc Ching are making a difference like this in the world.
Florentina
November 30, 2017 at 8:43 pmRight ? I stay awake lat eat night and try to make sense of it all. Beyond comprehension Xo’s
Vanessa Delia
November 30, 2017 at 6:35 pmMy friend runs a rescue. I will never cease to be baffled and deeply saddened by the treatment of animals.
Florentina
November 30, 2017 at 8:42 pmVanessa, once you see the truth you can’t unsee it. It changed me forever!
Reesa
November 30, 2017 at 7:57 pmThe thought of this is heartbreaking. What a true hero to our animal friends marc is.
Sarah
November 30, 2017 at 8:27 pmI never really believed that eating dog was a real thing. This is just crazy to me! Who would want to eat a dog!
Florentina
November 30, 2017 at 8:39 pmI know Sarah, that was also my first reaction, I just thought it was a hoax. Sadly it is reality 🙁
Claudia Krusch
November 30, 2017 at 9:47 pmMarc Ching sounds like an amazing man. I never knew so many dogs were eaten. We need to spread more awareness about it. I feel so bad for all the dogs.
Heather
December 1, 2017 at 12:12 amI can’t even. My pets are family, and the idea that someone may consider them a meal is just so wrong. The numbers are disheartening.
Toni | Boulder Locavore
December 1, 2017 at 12:19 amI don’t understand why people are doing this! Dogs are supposed to be man’s best friend and not man’s meal. 🙁 I hope these dogs could be saved.
Sherry
December 1, 2017 at 3:49 pmI understand that different cultures have different cuisine but all animals do deserve respect. I will never be a vegetarian but I can fathom eating dog. The treatment of the dogs in China is inhumane.
Florentina
December 1, 2017 at 4:15 pmAbsolutely! Sadly I must tell you that I’ve seen how inhumane the treatment of all farmed animals is right here in the U.S. Same story different species. I can not unsee the evil I have seen, the mother cow screaming in agony chasing the truck that stole her baby calf within 48 hours of giving birth. They took him to a veal farm and forcefully impregnated her to repeat the cycle all over again. My soul will forever be wrapped in darkness, and because of what my eyes have seen, and the pain my soul felt I could never bring myself to ever eat another animal for as long as I live. Namaste!
caitinla
February 28, 2018 at 9:13 pmwhy can’t you see yourself being vegetarian or vegan? maybe you’re seeing what you think of vegans and vegetarians. You should start opening your heart to finding out what’s being done to the animals. check out Instagram #dairyisscary Mercy For Animals.org
caitinla
February 28, 2018 at 9:14 pmwhy can’t you see yourself being vegetarian or vegan? maybe you’re seeing what you think of vegans and vegetarians. You should start opening your heart to finding out what’s being done to the animals. check out Instagram #dairyisscary Mercy For Animals.org