"If That's the Case, Why Raise Them?"... Leaving a Puppy in the Middle of the Road and Speeding Off

Witness: "It Clearly Doesn't Look Like a Stray Dog to Anyone"

A story has sparked controversy after a vehicle reportedly left a dog, presumed to be a pet, stranded in the middle of the road.

On the 10th, an online community, Bobae Dream, posted a message titled "I witnessed a dog abandonment." According to the post, the writer, Mr. A, went on a trip to Ganghwa Island, Incheon, with his family on the 7th. While traveling by car, Mr. A noticed a gray passenger car stopped on a two-lane road with its hazard lights on. The rear door of the vehicle was open, but as Mr. A's car approached, the door was closed and the vehicle drove off.

Mr. A said, "The problem was that there was a small dog next to the car," adding, "The people who seemed to be the owners had already driven away. The dog was beautifully groomed and clearly did not look like a stray."

A gray vehicle suspected of abandoning a dog and leaving. [Image source=Online community BobaeDream]

Photos shared by Mr. A show a small white dog standing next to the gray vehicle. The gray car slowly moved away from the dog.

Flustered, Mr. A first left the white dog alone and chased the vehicle, recording the incident with his car’s black box. He said, "The black box footage isn’t very clear, but it does show the event. Fortunately, my wife took a picture of the license plate just in case."

Netizens who saw the story responded with comments such as, "If you’re going to do that, why keep a pet in the first place?", "People who cherish their dogs at first but abandon them when they become a nuisance, old, or sick should face karmic consequences," and "If you’re going to abandon them, you shouldn’t have raised them at all."

However, some netizens commented, "Usually, if a dog is abandoned, it chases after the car, but this dog didn’t," and "You didn’t actually see the dog being abandoned from the car, so can you be sure it was abandonment?"

In response, Mr. A said, "I wondered if they were the owners, but what if the dog has a disability? The dog stayed still even after I passed by. In any case, I should have taken the dog to an animal protection center, but since this was my first time encountering such a situation, I regret it now." He added, "I have reported it, so I will wait to see the outcome."

Meanwhile, in the past, abandoning an animal could result in a fine of up to 3 million KRW. However, since the strengthened Animal Protection Act came into effect in February 2021, offenders can face a criminal fine of up to 3 million KRW. Unlike administrative fines, which do not leave a criminal record, criminal fines are a form of criminal punishment and do leave a record.

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