Dogs saved from slaughter in South Korea

Animal lovers rescued 46 starving dogs from a farm in South Korea where they were due to be slaughtered for human consumption.

The dogs arrived in the US on Saturday after a mercy mission by the Humane Society International saved them, reports the New York Daily News.

Kelly O'Meara, who runs the society's companion animal-related international projects, said they had been kept in horrid conditions at the farm in Goyang, a city just north of Seoul.

She described it as "like a dungeon, where there's very little light, little to no ventilation, so the stench of ammonia would bring tears to your eyes when you walk through".

"You'd see eyes peering at you, but it was hard to actually see the dogs themselves in the dark," she added.

The dogs received no veterinary care while kept at the farm, according to the society.

"They either get through it or they die in their cage and they receive just enough food to get by," O'Meara said.

Despite a stark decline in the demand for dog meat as a food source in South Korea, flesh from about 2 million dogs is eaten every year.

The dogs will be looked after in emergency shelters throughout New York, Maryland and Pennsylvania before new owners are found for them.