Incheon City to Establish Pet Welfare Center by 2025... Support for Adoption of Abandoned Animals

by Park Haesook

Published 28 Jul.2023 12:04(KST)

Incheon City announced on the 28th that it plans to establish a 'Companion Animal Welfare Culture Center' to support the adoption of abandoned animals rescued and protected at district and county animal protection centers.

This is part of the comprehensive measures for the life cycle of companion animals established by the city earlier this year. To secure the budget necessary for building the center, the city recently applied for the abandoned animal adoption center installation support project announced by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and secured 300 million KRW in national funding.

The city plans to remodel the former Munhak Tunnel management building located in Cheonghak-dong, Yeonsu-gu, and open the center in the second half of 2025. The center will protect abandoned animals facing euthanasia due to lack of space at animal protection centers, helping them find safe adoption homes. It will also provide socialization training, health checkups, vaccinations, neutering surgeries, and animal registration before proceeding with adoption.

Additionally, the center will conduct education on preventing animal abuse and improving awareness about adopting abandoned animals. The city expects that the establishment of the center will not only increase the adoption of abandoned animals but also reduce the rates of euthanasia and natural death among them. In Incheon, a total of 5,788 abandoned animals were reported last year, with 35.5% adopted so far and 40.5% euthanized or died naturally.

The city supports citizens who adopt abandoned animals by providing up to 150,000 KRW for costs related to animal registration, treatment, and grooming. An Incheon city official stated, "We will prepare various measures to activate the adoption of abandoned animals and make Incheon a city where people and companion animals live together."