Galleria Department Store Wins Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Award at 'Korea Animal Welfare Awards'

Photos from the "Adopt a Shelter Animal Day" event held on the 25th of last month at Galleria Gwanggyo. (Photo by Galleria)

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Galleria Department Store announced on the 10th that it received the ‘Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Award’ at the ‘2020 Korea Animal Welfare Awards’ selected by the Animal Welfare National Assembly Forum, a research group of National Assembly members.

Now in its second year, the ‘Korea Animal Welfare Awards’ selects winners through a judging committee composed of 10 external experts from academia, civic groups, the legal profession, and the media, based on evaluations of sincerity, expertise, and social value.

At this awards ceremony, Galleria was the only company to receive the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Award (Excellence Award) in the corporate category, recognized for highlighting the blind spots in companion animal culture where institutional support is limited and for its continuous social contributions for abandoned animals.

Since 2018, Galleria has been striving to support and promote awareness for the advancement of companion animal welfare through the PARAN project. The PARAN project focuses on three main activity areas: ▲supporting key members of animal protection organizations ▲supporting the project to end dog meat consumption ▲supporting new lives for abandoned animals, and is actively carrying out practical activities.

To support key members of animal organizations, Galleria became the first company to sponsor the construction of the ‘The Bom Center’ by the animal rights group KARA, opening the door for corporate sponsorships. It also supported the street cat support project of Animal Freedom Union, helping street cats in the redevelopment complex in Bangbae-dong survive the winter. Regarding dog meat consumption, despite it being a sensitive social issue with sharply divided public opinion, Galleria raised corporate-level concerns and activities, supporting the closure of two dog farms in Namyangju and one in Incheon.

In June, Galleria rescued 12 dogs from an illegal dog farm on Gyeyang Mountain in Incheon. Excluding five dogs that died from measles, the remaining seven were treated and protected, and from August until the 2nd of this month, they were sequentially adopted overseas, leading them to safe and new lives.

On the 25th of last month, Galleria held the ‘Abandoned Animal Adoption Day’ event at Galleria Gwanggyo, the first department store to do so. The event was held in collaboration with the abandoned animal adoption platform Poinhand and the Yongin City Animal Protection Association. This event was organized to spread the culture and paradigm of ‘adopting, not buying’ companion animals amid the decline in domestic and international adoptions of abandoned animals due to COVID-19.

Earlier this year, Galleria supported 11 abandoned animal shelters struggling with operations due to COVID-19 by providing food and medical expenses. During the peak of COVID-19 damage in the Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions, food was sent to abandoned dog shelters such as ‘Youngja’s’ in Daegu and ‘Mimi’ in Ulsan. In June, food and other supplies were provided to shelters including Ajine Village, Abandoned Dog Forest, and Acting Animal Love.

A Galleria official stated, “The PARAN project is meaningful in confirming the potential as a sustainable social contribution model involving companies, citizens, and organizations together, moving away from distorted views on animal welfare,” and added, “Galleria will continue to contribute to building a ‘life of happiness together’ by enhancing the quality of human welfare through leading animal welfare.”

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