A Cat Mom Couple Living with Disabled Cats Unable to Be Adopted or Relocated
"They Are My Children" Spending Over 3 Million Won on Food and Medical Expenses
#. Your name is ‘Nero’. The owner of a neighboring restaurant asked me for help, saying there was a kitten crying badly. When I arrived, your head was split into two, and your eyes were covered with blood and pus.
#. You are a ‘cat mom’. Not long after I was born as a stray cat five years ago, I was attacked by a scary animal. My right head was crushed, and I couldn’t see ahead. When I cried out in pain, you held me and took me somewhere.
The black cat Nero and Kim Bo-kyung (in her 50s) met for the first time like that. Ms. Kim immediately took the injured stray kitten to the hospital, and surgery began. Nero was too young to be anesthetized, so only his cries could be heard, and those nearby shed tears. One of Nero’s eyeballs was removed.
From the first eye removal surgery, inflammation recurred, leading to a total of three surgeries over 3 to 4 months. The surgery costs for the stray cat Nero amounted to about 3 million won. Ms. Kim and her husband, who is a ‘cat daddy,’ put the expenses on a credit card with installments.
Including Nero, the couple currently has nine cats in their family. All of them are disabled cats. These cats were either not chosen due to their disabilities or missed the adoption period and remain at home.
At that time, the Kim couple was running ‘Cattong,’ a nonprofit private organization protecting abandoned cats in Gijang-gun, Busan, meaning ‘connected by cats.’
Kim Bo-kyung, Vice Director of 'Sweet Animal World' where disabled cats live, is holding Nero, a cat with one eye.
‘Beombaek’ suffered from feline panleukopenia, a leukemia with a 90% fatality rate. After hospitalization treatment costing over 800,000 won, Beombaek is recovering health.
Unlike Ms. Kim, who has been close to cats and dogs since childhood, her husband Choi Jeong-woo (in his 50s) was not very keen on living with pets. When they first welcomed the stray cat ‘Yongpali’ as a family member, he told people, “I don’t want to be a dad, just call me uncle.” But as his wife became Yongpali’s ‘mom,’ Choi inevitably became Yongpali’s dad. Now, when Choi arrives home, he looks for Yongpali first.
Yongpali, a stray cat often encountered during neighborhood walks, became part of the ‘Cattong’ family five years ago after undergoing jaw fracture surgery due to an unknown accident.
The day the couple met ‘Green’ is a painful memory. Green suffered burn injuries from a cigarette lighter to the eyes. Although surgery was performed, severe damage left Green unable to blink on his own. Green had to receive eye drops regularly and lived that way until passing away a few years ago.
The talkative ‘Oki’ was rescued while suffering from malnutrition and peritonitis and survived after treatment to remove ascites and care. ‘Thor,’ rescued from the redevelopment complex in Oncheon-dong 4th district, has no hind leg on one side. ‘Ongi’ lost his vocal cords and cannot make sounds, and ‘Gongju’ suffers from skin disease and immunodeficiency, missing the adoption period and living in this home.
When unweaned kittens come to Cattong, Ms. Kim’s car becomes a cat stroller. She carries the kittens in the car to feed them milk while running errands. At one point, she had up to three kittens in the car, feeding them every two hours while going about her work.
The couple started operating ‘Cattong,’ an animal culture network protecting abandoned disabled cats, on the third floor of a commercial building in Gijang-gun, Busan, in 2018. In 2020, they moved to Jangjeon-dong, Geumjeong-gu, Busan, and renamed it the social cooperative ‘Sweet Animal World.’ They later established a branch in Ulsan and have been conducting public interest activities for animal welfare.
Sweet Animal World has made remarkable achievements in redevelopment and reconstruction projects. During the demolition period of the Oncheon 4th district redevelopment project, which began in July 2019, they established the nation’s first public-private joint animal rescue network and succeeded in rescuing about 300 stray cats. Among them, they sent some for adoption, neutered and relocated about 120 cats, and about 60 cats survived in the protection center.
This ‘Oncheon Cat Rescue Team’ project attracted nationwide attention and became a model for other local government projects. The Busan City Council enacted an ordinance to protect stray cats in redevelopment areas, requiring relocation and protection measures for stray cats living in the area before construction. Adoption, temporary protection, and relocation projects for territorial cats paved the way.
About 400 cats rescued from the Oncheon-dong redevelopment area found their lives again through adoption and relocation according to the local government’s neutering support and rescue manuals. This successful public-private cooperation project also became known in Ulsan. It was applied as is to the redevelopment project in Boksan-dong, Jung-gu, Ulsan, in 2020, taking on the fate of about 380 cats that might have been buried under building debris.
Currently, Kim Bo-kyung (vice director), who runs ‘Sweet Animal World’ in Jangjeon-dong, said, “Our goal is not only the adoption, protection, and relocation of cats but also to develop companion animal culture projects that include healing and therapy projects for children and the elderly.”
She said, “In Japan, cats living in the village are referred to as ‘our neighborhood cats,’ showing how familiar they are with humans. Cats, which are considered animals that bring longevity and fortune, have unfortunately become associated with cunning or ominous images in Korea, sometimes appearing in horror movies,” expressing her regret.
She also said, “The Earth is not a planet where only humans should be happy but a place where all living beings share happiness and live together.”
Kim’s strong supporter, her husband Choi Jeong-woo, still spends about 3 to 4 million won monthly from his personal wallet on food and medical expenses. Occasionally, donated supplies come in to operate the facility, but they are far from enough. Even now, stray cats and disabled cats rely on the volunteer work and voluntary donations of cat moms.
Director Choi said, “Sweet Animal World plans to establish itself not only as a shelter for disabled and stray cats but also as an animal welfare culture center that works with people through adoption, nurturing, coexistence education, healing therapy, and job creation.”
He laughed, saying, “Projects coexist with companion animals on Earth, such as stray cat care, public feeding programs, and legislation for animal protection in demolition areas, are steadily accumulating.”
They believe that a village where animal welfare is well guaranteed is also a good place for people to live. Although it may seem odd, their dream is for every neighborhood where people live to be called the so-called ‘Cat 8 School District.’
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
