Canadian Man Walks 38 Dogs At Once To Earn Spot In Guinness World Records

Mitchell Rudy from Canada has officially set a new world record for walking 38 dogs simultaneously, surpassing the previous record of 36. This record-breaking event took place on September 5, 2024, in Goesan, Chungcheongbuk-do, South Korea, and was sponsored by the Canadian charity BONK and the Korean K9 Rescue (KK9R).

The walk was not only a great accomplishment but also aimed at creating awareness for the rescued dogs. All 38 dogs were rescued within the local community and listed in KK9R for adoption. The shelter mainly cares for rescuing dogs from puppy mills or from the meat industry of South Korea.

Mitchell, one of the main contributors to the project BONK, said he was glad when the group reached the record. “All of these dogs, some of them are from the puppy mill industry, some of them are from former meat harvesting areas. These are dogs that have been rescued by KK9R but also other agencies inside of Korea,” he told Guinness World Record (GWR), adding that these animals deserve loving homes.

“There’s a lot of stigma around rescues. They’re great animals, they deserve a good home, they just need a little bit of love,” he added.

The reason for attempting to break the record was not just the sheer number of dogs but also the fact that the owner had to walk the dogs for one kilometre (0.6 mi) while maintaining the dogs on their leads. Mitchell said the idea was to showcase how strong these dogs are and boost their prospects of being taken in by families.

“We wanted to do something that made these dogs be the champions that they are,” he told GWR. “These are good dogs, they deserve homes.”

KK9R’s Executive Director, Gina Kim-Sadiku, thanked the team for their preparation and hard work. “We did not have a lot of time [to train for this event] but since our dogs had a strong foundation, we were able to really accomplish a lot in a short amount of time,” she informed GWR.

The event also coincides with the recent advancements in animal welfare in South Korea. This year the country approved the bill banning dog meat consumption which showed a shift in people’s perception of animals.