130,000 Rescued Lost and Abandoned Animals Last Year... 21% Euthanized

'2020 Survey Results on Companion Animal Protection and Welfare Management'
30% Adoption, 25% Natural Death, 11% Owner Surrender, etc.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] It was revealed that more than 130,000 lost and abandoned animals were rescued last year. Among them, about 30% were adopted, but 21% were euthanized.

On the 17th, the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency announced the results of the "2020 Survey on the Status of Companion Animal Protection and Welfare Management," based on nationwide companion animal registration, rescue and protection of lost and abandoned animals, and the status of animal-related businesses as of the end of last year.

The number of newly registered companion dogs last year was 235,637. The total number of registered companion dogs is approximately 2,321,701. The companion animal registration system has been implemented nationwide since 2014, and the number of registered animals has been increasing: 1,175,000 in 2017, 1,304,000 in 2018, 2,092,000 in 2019, and 2,321,000 in 2020.

Animal registration numbers can be obtained in the form of radio frequency identification devices (implanted or external) or registration tags, with 58.9% of companion dog owners choosing implanted RFID devices.

There are 3,690 designated agencies where companion dogs can be registered, with veterinary hospitals accounting for 92.7% and animal protection centers 4.6%. As of the end of last year, there were 280 animal protection centers nationwide, which protected 130,401 lost and abandoned animals. The number of rescued or protected lost and abandoned animals decreased by 3.9% compared to the previous year. By type, dogs accounted for 73.1%, cats 25.7%, and others 1.2%.

Rescued lost and abandoned animals were processed in the following order: adoption 29.6%, natural death 25.1%, euthanasia 20.8%, returned to owner 11.4%, and under protection 10.4%. Operating costs, including expenses for rescuing and protecting lost and abandoned animals, amounted to 26.7 billion KRW, a 15.1% increase from the previous year. Through the stray cat neutering support project, 73,632 cats were neutered, costing 10.69 billion KRW. The number of stray cats targeted for neutering increased by 13.2%, and costs rose by 17.7% compared to the previous year.

There are eight types of companion animal-related businesses, with 19,285 companies and 24,691 employees. Compared to the previous year, the number of companion animal-related businesses increased by 12.4%, and employees increased by 9.4%. By sector, animal grooming accounted for 37.7%, animal boarding management 23.0%, and animal sales 21.5%. Among employees, animal grooming had the largest share with 8,741 people, accounting for 35.4% of the total.

There are 413 local government animal protection monitors who detected 983 violations. Major violations included companion animal owners not using leashes or identification tags (62.0%), unregistered companion dogs (15.2%), and unregistered companion animal-related businesses (0.7%).

An agency official stated, "Continuous improvement of systems to prevent lost and abandoned animals and policy support considering regional characteristics are necessary. We will strive to expand public consensus on animal protection and welfare through cooperation with local governments, animal protection organizations, and related institutions, while fostering a mature companion animal culture."

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