Seoul City Detains Animal Cafe Owner Who Hit Dog with Hammer

Minsheng Judicial Police Unit, First Arrest Investigation

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] The Seoul Metropolitan Government's Civil Affairs Judicial Police Unit (Civil Unit) announced on the 13th that they have arrested owner A (38 years old) on charges of violating the Animal Protection Act for brutally killing a dog by repeatedly hitting it with a blunt instrument (stone hammer) and kicking it at an animal cafe in Mapo-gu.

The Civil Unit began an investigation after receiving a report from Animal Freedom Alliance that on January 1st of last year, the owner at an animal cafe near Mapo-gu, Seoul, repeatedly struck a dog on display in the store with a hammer in front of other animals, causing its death.

The arrested owner A admitted to hitting the dog with a hammer but claimed that since it was a rubber hammer, the dog did not die and was sent for adoption; however, he has not been able to clearly specify where the dog was sent.

A whistleblower who was an employee at the animal cafe saved the CCTV footage installed in the store at the time of the incident on their phone and submitted it to the Civil Unit, which led to the exposure of A’s criminal acts to the public.

Additionally, it was revealed that the animal cafe repeatedly operated without registering as an animal exhibition business or zoo with the competent authorities as required by the Animal Protection Act and the Act on the Management of Zoos and Aquariums, and had been repeatedly penalized for this.

According to Article 46 of the Animal Protection Act, acts of animal abuse causing death are punishable by up to 3 years imprisonment or a fine of up to 30 million KRW, and acts causing injury or disease to animals are punishable by up to 2 years imprisonment or a fine of up to 20 million KRW. Furthermore, operating an animal exhibition business without registration is subject to a fine of up to 5 million KRW.

Seo Young-gwan, head of the Civil Affairs Judicial Police Unit, stated, “As the number of people raising companion animals increases, public awareness of animal rights and respect for life is rising, but animal abuse cases are increasing every year and the methods are becoming more brutal.” He added, “We will conduct strict investigations whenever illegal acts of animal abuse are discovered.”

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