<img alt="Luffy‘s appearance (left) when he first entered the Seoul Animal Welfare Support Center last summer and his recent appearance after adoption. Photo by Mr. Jeong” src=”https://news.koreadaily.com/data/photo/2024/11/03/374b1f43-b1a7-49a3-832e-e491e184c43f.jpg”/>
In September of last year, Jeong Hye-jin (31) met the black-faced dog ‘Luffy’ for the first time during the ‘Abandoned Dog Walking Volunteer Service’, which she started to gather her peace of mind after losing the cat she had raised for 18 years. Loopy, who was discovered in a residential area in Gangseo-gu about five months ago, was taken to a city shelter in Yangju-si, Gyeonggi-do, and was noticed by officials at the Seoul Animal Welfare Support Center just before being euthanized. It is said that he was malnourished, with only his bones remaining, and was so scared that he would urinate at the mere touch of a person’s hand. Mr. Jeong was particularly attracted to Luffy, who never took a single step inside the house, unlike other dogs that wag their tails whenever they see people.
Mr. Jeong often stopped by this animal welfare center, which is a 10-minute bicycle ride away. And after three months, they decided to welcome Luffy into their family. Mr. Jeong, who gave the cat the name ‘Chorongi’ to mean living a second life, said, “I remember not being good to the cat I had before, so I thought I should treat it better as soon as possible.” Luffy, who weighed about 4 kg at the time of rescue, is now Chorong, who weighs 7.4 kg and is playing the role of the youngest member of the Jeong family. Mr. Jeong said, “I didn’t know much about the characteristics of dogs because I only raised cats,” and added, “Before adopting, I often visited a center near my house and had various experiences, which was helpful.”
The Seoul Animal Welfare Support Center, an animal shelter in the city, is emerging as a new model to minimize euthanasia of abandoned animals and promote adoption. Abandoned animals found in the city are usually moved to a shelter dozens of kilometers away from where they were rescued. This is because most shelters are located in sparsely populated areas where noise and odor complaints can be avoided. Once an animal is abandoned, it becomes isolated at the same time as it is rescued. Shelters are unable to handle the influx of abandoned animals, so euthanasia is carried out after a 10-day notice period. Of the 5,176 abandoned animals found in Seoul last year, 2,181 (42.1%) died or were euthanized at shelters.
The Animal Welfare Center started with an awareness of this problem. It was decided to place abandoned animals in the center of the city, rather than outside Seoul. Animals at risk of euthanasia were brought to the center for health checkups, grooming, and socialization training, and volunteer walkers were recruited to increase contact with people. Bae Jin-seon, head of the Seoul City Animal Welfare Facility Team, who oversees the operation of the center, said, “Rather than building one large shelter, we thought that increasing accessibility to several small shelters would be a way to increase the adoption rate.” He added, “Injured animals can also be volunteered by citizen volunteers.” “I feel healed by meeting them often,” he said.
Starting with the Sangam Center, which opened in 2017, the Seoul Metropolitan Government also opened centers in Guro (2020) and Dongdaemun (2023). Unlike general shelters where the adoption rate does not exceed 30%, the adoption rate at the center exceeds 70% compared to the number of animals protected. This year, 88 abandoned animals found new families at the Sangam Center alone.
At the Animal Welfare Center in Sangam-dong, Mapo-gu, which I visited on the 31st, there were about 20 dogs and cats living under the care of a veterinarian and a breeder. A cat receiving treatment at the center’s hospital, a dog getting dressed up with the help of a grooming volunteer, and a dog taking a profile picture in the ‘Halloween photo booth’ for adoption, all greeted the volunteers with their tails wagging. Most of them are animals with a story that are rescued from the homes of animal hoarders (people who raise too many animals beyond their breeding capacity) or from markets and other places. Go Mi-hee (26), who took a 40-minute walk with her Pomeranian Mark, said, “Someday, if the circumstances allow, I want to adopt one,” and added, “It’s healing to see happy dogs smelling the grass.”
Efforts to attract abandoned animal centers to the city center are growing, not only in public institutions such as the Seoul Metropolitan Government but also in the private sector. The ‘Baladang’ adoption center, which opened in Jegi-dong, Dongdaemun-gu in 2021, is operated by the animal protection group ‘Donghaeng’ with support from local governments and companies. On the 30th, employees of the Financial Supervisory Service came as a group to volunteer for a walk and walked 14 dogs. Choi Mi-geum, CEO of the Balladang Center, said, “Because we operate on a small scale, we have never received any complaints about noise or other complaints,” and added, “On the contrary, local residents also love the center’s puppies, whom they often encounter on their walks.”
However, abandoned animal centers in urban areas still have limitations in that they mainly only adopt small and young animals. This is because large shelters mainly bring in animals under 7 years old and under 7 kg, which are easy to adopt. Although the adoptive family goes through a strict screening process, it is also unfortunate that follow-up monitoring lasts only 1 to 2 months. Lee Hyeong-joo, CEO of Animal Welfare Research Institute Aware, said, “It is a very meaningful trend to operate a small center and focus on adoption,” but added, “Small-breed dogs tend to be divided into welfare centers, and large-breed dogs tend to be divided into large shelters with euthanasia systems. “He said. He added, “It is important to operate in a balanced manner so that citizens who want to raise pets can access animals without prejudice.”
Sumin Lee (lee.sumin1@joongang.co.kr)
