“Produced, sold, bought, abandoned.” This isn't about stuff. It's the story of animals that coexist with us. In the era of 10 million pets, pet content is pouring out on social media such as YouTube and Instagram. Dogs and cats have it good. However, it is a story of a different world for animals that have not been selected as pet. 

According to the “2022 Pet Protection Welfare Survey '' released by the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency on August 13, over the past year, the number of abandoned animals rescued in the country exceeds 110,000. Only 27.5% were re-adopted, and 43.7% died in shelters. 

■ 100,000 Animals Wandering the Streets

According to the survey, more than 100,000 animals have been rescued yearly in the country for the past five years. Statistics show a gradual decline of 135,791 in 2019, 130,401 in 2020, 118,273 in 2021, and 113,440 in 2022, but workers facing abandoned animals at the forefront do not feel a decline. Abandoned pet sanctuaries throughout the country are constantly appealing for help in the face of labor shortages. Kim Seo-Hyun (Dept. of Music, 21), the chairman of Pusan National University (PNU)’s abandoned animal volunteer club “Didimdol,” said, “The number of abandoned animals in the field is increasing. Still, the number of volunteers is decreasing.”

Shim In-Seop (Representative, Animal protection group in Busan, “Life”) said, “It is the first time I heard about the trend of abandoned animal declining. I started my activities in Busan 10 years ago, but the situation is not so different now.” According to the survey, Busan had a severe abandoned cat problem last year. It is the second-highest number of abandoned cats among local governments nationwide. Last year, the number of abandoned cats in Busan accounted for 10.2% of 30,000 cases. This followed by Gyeonggi-do Province with 16.1%. 

■ Animals Turned Into “Stuffs” With National Connivance

Experts point to the culture of buying and selling animals like “objects” as a root cause of animal abandonment. People who bought animals from pet shops without going through complicated formalities become unable to handle the responsibility and abandon the animals. In Korea, pets are currently sold as an overt commodity in pet shops. Moreover, many of the animals sold in pet shops are illegally bred in poor conditions in "puppy mills" or "breeding farms.” Representative Shim said, “People can go to a department store, a mart, five-day (interval) market, or even buy a companion animal without leaving the house. One side keeps rescuing, the other keeps abandoning. So, it's like a bottomless pit.” 

Animals are objects in the Korean legal system. In April, the floor leaders of the ruling and opposition parties agreed to pass an amendment to the civil law that does not regard animals as objects, but the actual passage has not been achieved. In May, animal organizations and other civil society organizations united to protest the course of some amendments to the civil law. Instead, the response is that the penalties for abandoning pets have been increased from disposition of fine for negligence to monetary penalties with the implementation of the revised Animal Protection Act in April, but the penalties are still weak. 

Some say the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) is encouraging the pet trade. Currently, the MAFRA, which oversees the Animal Protection Act, stipulates that vendors at animal farms and pet shops should be supported as livestock farmers. Recently, breeding farms that produce animals in harsh environments have been accused one after another. Representative Shim said, “Regulating pet shops could help make adoption more commonplace, reducing the number of animals killed in shelters.” 

For-profit pet shops are already illegal in developed countries such as Germany, the United Kingdom, parts of Canada, and several US states. According to the paper “A Study on the Status and Operation of Animal Shelters (2013),” the majority of pet adoptions in Germany take place under a single animal shelter adoption system called “tierheim.” As reported by BBC Korea on August 22, the United Kingdom requires pets under the age of six months to be adopted only through shelters or home adoption from 2018. New York State has also banned the sale of animals in pet shops since December last year, citing the prevention of animal cruelty in breeding farms and respect for animal rights. As a result, starting next December, New York State's pet shops will operate by matching abandoned animals with prospective foster homes. 

■ "Animals are Life" Growing Voices

Those who work to ensure animal rights say efforts are needed to boost the adoption of abandoned animals. Therefore, Busan is actively promoting the adoption of abandoned animals. Currently, five private foster animal shelters are in operation in Busan. Rescued animals are transferred to foster homes, where they wait for their original owners during a 10-day period. If owners don't show up, the city takes ownership of the animals and puts them up for adoption. Currently, Busan is offering a subsidy of 100,000 won to dog owners who adopt abandoned animals from shelters or adoption centers. Representative Shim said, “Basically, it's important not to buy animals. It is desirable to adopt through a municipal shelter or adopt from a trusted private shelter.”

He emphasized that adopting a companion animal comes with a great responsibility. Shim said, “Adopting an animal means you need to take responsibility for its life for a minimum of 15 to 20 years. The caregiver is responsible for providing unchanging love and attention, and must have the economic power to pay millions of won at the animal hospital when the animal is sick.” He added, “Please do not adopt impulsively just because it is cute.”

Reporter Jung Da-Min

Translated by Lim Chae-Kyung