Received 1,386 votes of support for district mayor's response... 25 winter shelters installed in neighborhood parks and riversides
Volunteers directly handle installation, management, and removal to prevent private winter shelter proliferation
Seogangseok, Songpa District Mayor: "We will carry out administration that carefully attends to the low areas from the perspective of residents"
Songpa-gu (Mayor Seo Gang-seok) is responding to a citizen petition that received 1,386 votes by installing 25 winter shelters for stray cats to survive the cold winter.
The 'Citizen Petition' is a communication channel for district administration set up in the 'Online Communication Mayor's Office' on the district website. Citizens can register petitions on major district policies, systems, and social issues, and if more than 1,000 people vote within 30 days, the mayor responds directly. Even if the quorum is not met, the relevant department provides a response. Since its first implementation in March 2019, out of 122 registered petitions, 10 have been established by receiving more than 1,000 votes.
In particular, the 'Installation of Winter Shelters for Stray Cats' is significant as it received the highest number of votes among citizen petitions over the past four years. While stray cat feeding stations have been operated based on the Seoul Animal Protection Ordinance established in 2021, winter shelters lacked legal grounds and thus were difficult to support. The administrative support from the district combined with the concern of citizens has led to actual change.
As a result, the number of lives lost on the streets due to this winter's cold wave is expected to decrease. The winter shelters for stray cats will be installed in places with relatively fewer people and many cats, such as neighborhood parks and riversides, considering potential conflicts between cats' main habitats and local residents. In November, the district recruited volunteers capable of installing, removing, and managing the shelters by location and began distribution, with plans to collect all shelters by the end of February next year.
A district official stated, "This pilot installation of winter shelters aims not only to prevent cold wave damage to stray cats but also to prevent the indiscriminate proliferation of private winter shelters and to identify and capture stray cats subject to neutering." They added, "With continuous management, a hygienic and pleasant environment will be created, so we ask for broad understanding and interest."
Additionally, the district operates 39 stray cat feeding stations within the area and has secured a project budget of 150 million KRW this year in cooperation with local animal hospitals to promote the Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program, among various other projects for stray cats.
Moreover, the 'Citizen Petition' system, which led to the installation of these winter shelters, was first established in October 2019 with the petition titled "Urgent Need for Asbestos-Related Ordinance Enactment." It has played a significant role as a communication channel to effectively gather and reflect the opinions of many citizens in district administration.
Seo Gang-seok, Mayor of Songpa-gu, said, "In an era with 15 million pet owners, I find it meaningful that the warm hearts of citizens conveyed through the citizen petition have been realized as policies for coexistence between humans and animals." He added, "We will continue to serve the citizens as the owners, and strive to create an inclusive city that carefully looks after even the smallest places from the citizens' perspective."
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