Gwangju City Leads the Way in Creating a Happy City with Companion Animals

'2023~2027 Banryeodongmul Chinhwado City Comprehensive Plan' Established

Building Animal Welfare Infrastructure Including Public Adoption and Culture Centers

Gwangju Metropolitan City is taking the lead in creating a happy city where people can live with their companion animals.

The Gwangju City Government (Mayor Kang Gi-jung) announced on the 31st that it has established the “2023-2027 Comprehensive Plan for a Companion Animal-Friendly City,” aiming to build an animal welfare foundation including public welfare facilities for companion animals, and to foster a healthy companion culture by activating the animal registration system and adoption of abandoned animals.

First, with the rapid increase in demand for animal welfare policies due to the rise in households with companion animals, a Companion Animal Welfare Team was newly established to ensure stable policy implementation.

Additionally, by 2028, the city will create companion animal welfare support facilities such as adoption and culture centers, playgrounds, and public animal cremation facilities. To this end, Gwangju is conducting feasibility studies and basic planning research projects.

The cumulative number of registered companion animals in the Gwangju area has nearly doubled over the past five years, from 44,322 in 2019, 50,239 in 2020, 64,251 in 2021, 72,129 in 2022, to 79,205 in 2023.

The number of abandoned animals has also surged nearly twofold, from 1,703 in 2015 to 3,043 last year.

Accordingly, complaints about odor and noise near animal shelters protecting abandoned animals, as well as shortages in personnel and budget, have arisen.

To secure insufficient facilities, the city plans to complete the construction of a metropolitan animal protection center in September and improve the rescue and protection system for abandoned animals.

The current system, where animals rescued by autonomous districts are immediately protected and adopted through the Gwangju City Animal Protection Center, will be changed to a system where animals are first protected for 10 days at autonomous district animal protection centers (two locations: Buk-gu and Gwangsan-gu) before being transferred to the Gwangju City Animal Protection Center.

To promote adoption of abandoned animals, the city will support initial medical expenses (250,000 KRW per animal) including neutering surgery and vaccinations at the time of adoption, and fully cover pet insurance subscription fees for one year for citizens adopting abandoned animals.

The city will strengthen management responsibilities for companion animal owners and business operators. To prevent dog bite accidents, starting in April, a “Dangerous Dog Breeding Permit System” will be introduced, requiring temperament evaluation by a temperament evaluation committee for breeding dangerous dogs (such as Dosa dogs, American Pit Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, Rottweilers, etc.).

Inspections of licensed companion animal businesses (animal production, import, sales, and cremation businesses) will be expanded from once a year to twice a year.

The city will also actively promote awareness of companion animals. The existing “Companion Animal Festival,” which focused on competitions and experiences, will be operated as the “Companion Animal Industry Culture Festival.”

The Companion Animal Industry Culture Festival is planned to be held in conjunction with the “Gwangju Pet Show,” hosted by the Gwangju Tourism Organization from October 4 to 6, aiming to revitalize tourism in Gwangju and the companion animal industry.

The “Companion Animal Welfare Support Facility Construction” project, a pledge of the 8th local government administration, will include the establishment of a companion animal adoption culture center, playground, and animal crematorium.

The feasibility study, which began in July last year, will be completed by March, and a basic plan will be established after collecting citizens’ opinions.

Joo Jae-hee, Director of the Economic Startup Bureau, said, “With the increase in single-person households and aging population, more households recognize companion animals as family members, and the demand for policies is growing. We will implement various policies, including the establishment of welfare infrastructure, to make Gwangju a city where both companion animals and people are happy.”

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