Hollywood Star Joins Mission to Save 67 Dogs from a Terrifying End — You Won’t Believe Where They Were Found

Humane World for Animals helped save 67 dogs from a dog meat farm that closed down due to cruelty violations — and actor Daniel Henney was part of the rescue team.

Earlier this year, authorities shut down the farm in Cheongju, South Korea — where the owner had been breeding dogs and serving their meat in his restaurant for 40 years — for breaching the Animal Protection Act, according to the charity (formerly Humane Society International).

As the owner transitioned to chili farming before South Korea’s dog meat ban goes into effect in 2027, volunteers with Humane World for Animals stepped in to relocate the animals on the farm — which included newborn puppies and pregnant dogs, the charity said.

And Henney — a longtime advocate for Humane World for Animals’ campaign to end the dog meat trade — joined the effort to save and relocate the dogs, who were mostly Jindo-mixes, to the United States.

Photos and footage of the February 2025 rescue show volunteers, including The Wheel of Time star, 45, helping dogs out of their cages and becoming visibly emotional.

“They’re not even eating their food, they just want love,” he said of the canines in one clip.

The Criminal Minds alum not only helped move the dogs to travel kennels for transport, but also toured the rest of the farm, pointing out that the owner seemingly killed the dogs in front of their caged companions. At one point, he also pointed out to another volunteer that there were still visible “blood stains” on a cutting board.

The Big Hero 6 actor also accompanied 50 of the 67 pups — some of whom have deformed bones caused by nutritional deficiency — to Incheon International Airport, where he and other volunteers waved them off, provided food and water and penned well-wishes inside their crates.

The animals later arrived at Humane World for Animals’ rehabilitation center in Maryland, where they will receive veterinary care before relocating and being placed up for adoption, the charity said. The other 17 will join them in the U.S. when they are old enough to make the journey.

“As a huge dog lover, and dad to a dog meat farm survivor, it was incredibly challenging to see the suffering of these dogs who have endured so much,” Henney said in an official statement about his time on the farm. The actor and his wife Ru Kumagai are the proud pet parents to Juliette, whom they rescued from the South Korea dog meat trade in 2020.

“It makes me all the prouder to have supported Humane World for Animals’ successful campaign to achieve a ban because it means no more dogs like these will suffer like this again,” Henney’s statement continued. “South Korea is embracing a new chapter where dogs are our friends, not food, and that couldn’t make me more thrilled.”

The actor concluded by stating that he is “looking forward to following the journey of these dogs as they find their forever homes in the United States and put the dog meat industry behind them.”

Sangkyung Lee, the campaign manager for Humane World for Animals Korea, also noted that this rescue feels different, as farms like the one in Cheongju are being phased out with the dog meat ban on the horizon.

“In all the years our charity has been rescuing dogs from these dog meat farms, this is the first time we have done so knowing that a ban is finally consigning this terrible suffering to the history books,” Lee said in a statement. “That’s an amazing feeling. While the law is successfully dismantling the dog meat industry, we are happy to be able to provide a bright future for the dogs on this farm.”

“For them, the dog meat industry is over,” he concluded, “and they have nothing but soft beds, full bellies and lots of love ahead of them.”