Lost and Abandoned Animals with Nowhere to Go... Three Seoul Districts Lack Dedicated Teams

Animal Protection Act 1 Year Later, Blind Spots Remain
No Dedicated Teams in Jongno, Yeongdeungpo, Geumcheon
Overburdened with Tasks Like Rescuing 200 Animals Annually
Considered Undesirable Work Among Officials

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] Although the Animal Protection Act has been in effect for over a year, there are still blind spots in its management. Each year, more than 100,000 animals are lost or abandoned, yet the local government organizations and personnel responsible are unable to adequately support this issue.

On the 31st, Asia Economy surveyed the 25 autonomous districts of Seoul and found that three districts?Jongno-gu, Yeongdeungpo-gu, and Geumcheon-gu?do not have dedicated animal protection teams. These three districts have included animal protection duties within their Living Economy Teams (Jongno-gu and Yeongdeungpo-gu) and Living Distribution Team (Geumcheon-gu). These teams also handle additional tasks such as supporting small business owners with Zero Pay and managing animal sales business registrations. The amendment to the Animal Protection Act, which took effect in February last year, increased the penalty for causing an animal’s death by cruel methods from “up to 2 years imprisonment or a fine of up to 20 million KRW” to “up to 3 years imprisonment or a fine of up to 30 million KRW.”

Penalties for owners who abandon animals were strengthened from a fine of up to 3 million KRW to imprisonment or a fine of up to 3 million KRW. Additionally, Article 14 of the Animal Protection Act (Rescue and Protection of Animals) requires local governments to rescue lost or abandoned animals and take necessary measures for their treatment and protection. A civil law amendment that would grant animals a new legal status rather than treating them as property is also pending in the National Assembly.

Seoul City is working with the Korea Animal Rescue Management Association to rescue animals, but the field workers are overwhelmed with their workload.

A public official in charge of animal protection in a district office said, “We conduct rescue activities for about 170 to 200 animals annually, but it is too much for one person to handle,” adding, “Besides rescuing lost and abandoned animals, we also manage animal sales business registrations, so we cannot even consider new projects.” Another official from a different district said, “Because we have various duties besides animal protection, it is difficult to focus on managing just one area,” and added, “Two people share all the work.”

Among public officials, animal protection work is also an undesirable task. A Seoul City official said, “There are legal limitations, so it is difficult to achieve results,” and “As animal-related work increases, fewer people want to work in this area for a long time.”

According to the animal protection organization Animal Freedom Coalition, there were a total of about 117,000 cases of lost and abandoned animals last year. Although this number decreased by 9.1% compared to the previous year due to increased home activities during COVID-19, it has remained above 100,000 cases for five consecutive years.