Targeting 100 Adoptions This Year
Support Includes Neutering Surgery and Infectious Disease Testing
Yongsan-gu, Seoul (Mayor Park Hee-young) is launching the nation's first "Stray Cat Adoption Support Project" (TNA, Trap-Neuter-Adopt). This project is a public-private cooperation initiative aimed at protecting stray cats displaced by redevelopment and urban renewal projects, and creating an environment where people and stray cats can coexist harmoniously.
The project proceeds through the following steps: securing adoption places and capturing stray cats followed by handing them over to animal hospitals (citizens caring for stray cats); neutering surgery, infectious disease testing, blood tests, deworming and vaccination, animal registration (animal hospitals); and approval of target stray cats and cost support (district office).
Recently, with the redevelopment of Hannam New Town underway, large-scale redevelopment causes stray cats to lose their habitats. When redevelopment progresses, stray cats must move to nearby areas, but due to the territorial nature of cats and the presence of other stray cats already inhabiting nearby residential areas, it is difficult for them to settle.
The current government-run stray cat neutering project (TNR, Trap-Neuter-Return) involves neutering and then releasing the cats back to their original habitats, which limits its effectiveness in solving stray cat issues in redevelopment areas where cats have nowhere to return. In response, Yongsan-gu is pioneering the nation's first "Stray Cat Adoption Support Project (TNA)" to find a new solution.
Unlike the existing TNR method, this project provides blood tests, infectious disease tests, deworming, vaccinations, and animal registration for stray cats scheduled for adoption, and does not perform "ear tipping" (cutting the tip of the cat's ear to indicate neutering before release), which can be an obstacle to adoption.
The district aims to find new homes for 100 stray cats this year. Through this, positive changes are expected in resolving residents' complaints related to stray cats. For more details about the "Stray Cat Adoption Support Project (TNA)," please contact the Animal Protection Team, Health and Hygiene Division, Yongsan-gu Public Health Center at 02-2199-8053.
Mayor Park Hee-young stated, "The Stray Cat Adoption Support Project considers not only the stray cats but also the citizens caring for them and residents inconvenienced by stray cats," adding, "We will continue to do our best to create a happy Yongsan where residents and animals coexist."
Meanwhile, in November last year, Yongsan-gu amended its Animal Protection Ordinance to establish the basis for operating public feeding stations for stray cats. Twenty public feeding stations are operated within Hannam 3 District, making efforts to guide stray cats’ habitats outside the redevelopment area.
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