Worried About Bringing Your Dog Home for Chuseok?... Nowon-gu Operates Dog Shelter

From 9 AM on the 30th to 6 PM on October 2, a pet dog rest area will be operated in the district office 2nd floor auditorium... One small registered dog per household, 30 dogs, with a 5,000 KRW care fee

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Nowon-gu (District Mayor Oh Seung-rok) will operate a Chuseok pet dog shelter for returning visitors again this year.

Although there is an atmosphere of refraining from traveling home to prevent the spread of COVID-19, this measure is for households that inevitably need to travel or require pet dog care during the holiday period due to unavoidable circumstances.

The pet dog shelter, utilizing the district office's 2nd floor auditorium, will operate from 9 a.m. on September 30 to 6 p.m. on October 2.

Applications will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis through the district office website until 6 p.m. on the 23rd. The cost for owners to use the service for 3 days is 5,000 KRW.

The shelter can accommodate 30 dogs, one per household. The conditions are small dogs without socialization issues (such as Maltese, Poodle, Pomeranian), over 6 months old since birth, registered animals with completed rabies vaccinations. Pregnant or in-heat dogs and those with contagious diseases are restricted from use.

Care is divided into daytime (9 a.m. to 9 p.m.) and nighttime (9 p.m. to 9 a.m. the next day). During the day, two pet sitter teams (4 people per team) alternate every 6 hours, and at night, an on-duty staff monitors and patrols via CCTV in the control room.

For owners curious about their pet’s life, photos of the dogs are sent twice daily. In preparation for illness or injury, the shelter is linked with a 24-hour hospital in the area to respond to emergencies.

The shelter consists of a hotel area and a playground. The hotel area provides a cozy and comfortable space with dog houses and mats. Seating is arranged considering gender and neutering status. The playground uses durable steel fences to separate spaces by gender and size, equipped with various exercise equipment and toys. Play is conducted considering relationships and temperaments among dogs, and any fights are immediately isolated and observed. A promotional table is set up in front of the shelter entrance to provide information at a glance about various animal welfare projects conducted by the district.

The district recommends bringing the usual food, toys, bedding, and items carrying the owner's scent to help pets adapt well to the unfamiliar environment when using the pet dog shelter.

Meanwhile, the pet dog shelter, operated since Chuseok 2018, has been used by 87 households over 4 occasions until the last Lunar New Year holiday. Originally accommodating 20 dogs, it was expanded to 30 dogs starting from last year’s Chuseok holiday due to high public response.

District Mayor Oh Seung-rok said, “It is a reality that privately operated pet hotels are difficult to book during holidays and are costly. I hope the pet dog shelter will be helpful to families who need temporary care for their dogs due to unavoidable circumstances during this Chuseok.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.