From the 12th, up to 3 years imprisonment for cruelly killing animals... Revised Animal Protection Act Enforced

Animal Abuse
[Image Source = Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Eun-young] With the enforcement of the revised Animal Protection Act, Enforcement Decree, and Enforcement Rules starting today (the 12th), penalties for cruelly killing animals such as dogs and cats have been strengthened. The revisions also include mandatory liability insurance for dangerous dogs, enhanced management of registered animals, and stricter ethics for animal testing.

Under the revised law, anyone who cruelly kills an animal faces up to 3 years of imprisonment or a fine of up to 30 million KRW. This is an increase in penalty severity from the previous regulation of "up to 2 years imprisonment or a fine of up to 20 million KRW." Those who abandon animals must pay a fine of up to 3 million KRW.

Owners of dangerous dogs such as Dosajeon must enroll in dangerous dog liability insurance by today (the 12th). Failure to enroll will result in a fine of up to 3 million KRW.

When going out with animals, their movement must be restricted using a leash or harness within 2 meters. The leash length regulation will be promoted for awareness and adoption before being enforced starting next year. Additionally, pet owners must hold their animals or grasp the neck or chest strap handle of the leash in common areas of buildings such as apartments, multi-family housing, and row houses. This is to ensure consideration so that other residents do not feel threatened.

Measures to increase animal registration rates will also be implemented. Animal sellers must apply for registration in the buyer’s name before selling registered animals to buyers other than business operators.

Both internal/external wireless identification devices and ID tags were previously recognized as animal registration methods, but due to the high risk of damage or loss making it difficult to find owners, ID tags have been excluded from registration methods.

However, even though ID tags are excluded from registration methods, pet owners must still attach ID tags displaying the owner’s contact information to their animals when going out.

Furthermore, when minors perform animal dissection practice at school, the experiment must be reviewed by the animal experiment ethics committee of the institution conducting the experiment or the school’s animal dissection practice review committee. Animal testing on service animals dedicated to humans or the nation is generally prohibited. Police dogs used for search and detection have also been added to this prohibition.

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