Daisy: The Korean street dog saved from the kill shelter

Korean street dog
(Image credit: Charlotte Moore)

Dog adoption can be tough. It’s very rarely like the meet and greets you see on the television or read about in the magazines, where it’s love at first sight with a beautifully bouncy, healthy puppy. Nobody knows this better than Charlotte Moore from Guelph, Ontario, Canada. 

When Charlotte first met Daisy through a rescue organisation in Toronto, Canada, it was far from the encounter she had imagined.  

“When I first went to visit Daisy, I won’t sugar coat it, she completely ignored me,” Charlotte explained. This adorable pup’s lack of interest in people was abundantly clear. Feeling incredibly nervous of strangers, Daisy spent the entire visit running between the room’s windows to see what was going on outside. 

It wasn’t looking good. 

Daisy is originally from Korea and spent much of her young life living out on the streets. She was discovered living in a high kill shelter by a rescue organisation, who thankfully transferred her to Toronto, Canada, ready for her adoption journey.

Four days after the pair met, Charlotte took Daisy home in January 2020. “Something connected me to her… many people have said it was fate, like we were meant to find each other,” she told PetsRadar.

Since arriving home they have been inseparable, with Charlotte describing Daisy as her “little shadow”. 

Sadly, it wasn’t all plain sailing from that moment onwards and they were yet to arrive at their happy ever after.

Shortly after introducing Daisy to her forever home, Charlotte soon realised that something was very wrong. Her young pooch had been underweight at the time she was picked up. “You could feel every bone in her little body and you could tell she had been under stress for a long time,” said Charlotte. 

Following numerous tests and specialist investigations, it was determined that Daisy needed surgery to remove a mass that was suspected as a foreign body or extra tissue that may have been left over from when she was spayed.

It was a long six month journey for Daisy to overcome her surgery and work towards becoming the healthy, happy pooch she is today. 

“It was really difficult to see this little dog go through so much when she had already experienced such hard times in the short years of her life,” Charlotte explained. 

Once Daisy had recovered, Charlotte chose to have her new four-legged friend’s DNA tested to find out what breed she was. After a full year of thinking she was a pomeranian corgi mix, it turned out that Daisy is in fact a Korean Village Dog – a breed that originates from a separate line of dogs not found in North America.

This means that Daisy’s ancestry is more closely linked to wolves than any other breed of dog. And, as Charlotte revealed, this didn’t come as a surprise as Daisy can be a fierce hunter who comes alive when she is outside, always chasing after squirrels.

Now, Daisy’s days of living on the streets of Korea are a distant memory. Instead, Daisy loves to spend her time running around the park with other dogs, watching out of the windows to spot the bunnies that have been nesting in Charlotte’s backyard, or snoozing peacefully in the sunshine.

Korean street dog

(Image credit: Charlotte Moore)

Her latest trick is managing to scale trees to try to reach the squirrels – she’s able to jump heights of five feet in the air! 

“Daisy has completely transformed my life,” Charlotte told PetsRadar. “Helping her blossom into the dog she is now has been the greatest reward.” 

Lovingly described as a loyal, sweet, and gentle dog, Daisy has now settled into her forever home with Charlotte. 

“She is the light of my life and has filled my heart with so much love.”

Daisy has found her happy ever after.

Chloe Petrylak

Chloe is a freelance writer, editor, and proofreader, who has more than ten years’ experience in creating animal-focussed content. From National Geographic to Animal Planet, Chloe’s passion for creating fact-filled features all about wildlife and the environment is evident. But it’s not just wild animals that Chloe’s fascinated by. Having written more than 75 articles for PetsRadar - and having her very own four-legged friend by her side - it’s no wonder that her love of dogs (and, of course, cats) has grown exponentially.  

Her website, www.chloemaywrites.com, and social media pages - @ChloeMayWrites on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter - showcase her knowledge through daily facts and trivia tidbits. For example, did you know that snails have teeth?!