A Growing Number of Korean Dogs Find a New Life in North America

A lot more dogs are flying from South Korea to the U.S. than over ten years ago, according to data from Korea’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The number of dogs transported to the United States from 2014 to 2025 more than doubled, and the figure for Canada increased more than fivefold.

The data also highlights that an unprecedented number of dogs are shipped to the two North American countries for three years since the COVID-19 pandemic broke in 2020—though it includes dogs that were simply relocated, not necessarily adopted—driven in large part by an increased demand for companionship to alleviate a sense of isolation.

Created by Seulgi Jung, the chart used the data from Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) of Korea