"Gwangju Animal Shelter Full of Problems, City Must Step Up to Establish Measures"

Citizen Group Issues Statement... Urging Normalization of Operations and Direct Management by City

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] A citizens' group urging the normalization of operations and direct management by the city of Gwangju Metropolitan City's animal shelter has pointed out the problems of the current animal shelter.

The group issued a statement on the 26th, urging Gwangju City to establish thorough measures for proper operation.

They claim seven main points.

First, the establishment of hiring standards for workers and the implementation of regular training.

The group stated, “Most of the employees who handle the protected animals most closely on site at the Gwangju Animal Shelter do not have animal-related certifications and do not even receive regular training,” adding, “Reflecting on past incidents of animal abuse by employees, preventive measures should be taken by establishing and specifying hiring standards for workers and conducting regular training.”

Second, compliance with euthanasia approval procedures.

They said, “At the Gwangju Animal Shelter, opinions of employees with no veterinary knowledge are primarily reflected and conveyed to veterinarians, and representatives of the entrusted organizations do not participate in euthanasia approval,” urging, “Through veterinarians’ rounds for selection and prior approval procedures by operators or veterinarians before euthanasia, the operating organization must thoroughly manage directly to prevent unjust deaths.”

Third, full opening of kennel volunteer activities.

The group argued, “Citizen volunteers do not merely assist with labor but also play roles in monitoring and suggesting,” and “The Gwangju Animal Shelter website’s ‘Volunteer Application’ section does not have a weekday kennel volunteer application form. This means that volunteering is not fairly open to citizens but only allowed to designated people.”

They also demanded transparent operation of the free bulletin board as a public institution.

The role of the free bulletin board, which may include citizens’ suggestions, criticisms, and sometimes complaints, is an essential communication element and an opportunity for citizen participation in public institutions. However, the Gwangju Animal Shelter has closed the free bulletin board and operates only a ‘private complaint board’ that only the writer can view.

Along with this, they demanded monthly disclosure of operational performance and budget execution details.

The group stated, “Entrusted organizations receiving local government subsidies have an obligation to disclose budget execution and work performance to citizens,” and urged, “Publish monthly budget execution and work performance on the website so that citizens can easily review them.”

Sixth, they urged the rectification of illegal buildings and the use of surplus budgets generated from them for animal protection expenses.

They requested, “Properly handle illegal buildings within the Gwangju Animal Shelter and move the animals protected in those facilities to alternative locations for safe protection.”

They continued, “Currently, five employees manage kennels housing about 200 dogs, with their salaries at 2.6 million KRW per month, and total labor costs account for 80% of the entire budget,” emphasizing, “Save labor costs consumed by additional staffing due to increased management numbers caused by illegal buildings and add that budget to direct care expenses for protected animals so that the animals receive better treatment while alive.”

Lastly, they demanded proactive operation.

They claimed, “Gwangju Metropolitan City signed an operation contract with the current entrusted organization without a ‘qualification review’ procedure on the validity of entrustment, citing that no organization wished to operate the Gwangju Animal Shelter,” and “The current operating organization assigns the director position to one of the employees and leaves overall operation to the employees themselves.”

They also said, “It is surprising that a colleague employee with the same salary manages other employees as director, gives work instructions, and handles external affairs,” and raised their voice, “Abandon the irresponsible idea that things run well even if left to employees, and actively manage by appointing an appropriate person as director from the entrusted organization.”

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