He pushed a tiny scooter hundreds of kilometres around South Korea raising awareness about the cruel treatment of dogs in the meat industry there. Now, Rich Adams, or 'Rich The Vegan' is scooting across Canada. His main goal is awareness, but along the way, he also hopes to talk people into giving up eating meat the way he did.
Many people find the thought of dog meat as food to be off-putting, but Rich Adams said the more you find out about the industry in Korea the worse it becomes.
"This is a horrific industry," he said. "Where approximately two and a half million dogs are brutalized, butchered and eaten, and I wanted to bring awareness to this."
With that in mind, Adams toured South Korea on a small scooter, but it was no pleasure tour.
"I actually saw dogs," he said. "I saw them in cages, I saw them in chains."
Adams wants people to know how the animals are deliberately brutalized.
"There's this myth that's been built up," said Adams, "that if the dog suffers, then the meat is somehow better."
Along the way, he managed to rescue some, including one called Kathy. She died shortly after arriving in Canada. So Adams named his coast to coast scoot in her honour: Kathy's Tail, Canada 2019.
"I wanted to show that her life had value," he said. "She wasn't just a product to be eaten."
Adams' compassion for dogs led to compassion toward all animals. Now he's a vegan, and he hopes his effort demonstrates to other men, that you can give up meat without giving up strength or masculinity.
"You don't need to eat animals to be fit, to be healthy, to be strong," he said. "Doing this is proof."
Adam's has built up quite a following on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
The trip started in Halifax in April, and the plan is to wrap it up July 26th in Vancouver.
