<Anchor> The number of
pets raised in Korea has exceeded 15 million.
It means that about 1 in 3 live with animals.
But the problem is that the number of people throwing away pets is also increasing.
That number is about 370 per day.
This issue was covered by our data journalism team.
Reporter Bae Jeong-hoon and reporter Ahn Hye-min will deliver.
<Reporter Bae Jung-hoon>
Behind a factory in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi-do.
[Kim Kyung-su/Yogi dog reporter: Hey, I'm sleeping right now (Are you asking?) I don't ask, I don't bark.]
After receiving the report, a frightened dog looked around.
It is filled with a green leash, but there is no identification device to identify the owner.
Another site for reporting abandoned dogs.
[Man-sik Choi/Namyang Dog Protection Center Rescue Director: (How are you going to rescue?) We have to grab it with a net, those kids.]
But this dog loses one leg and runs away from the rescue team while limping.
[Recently Geun-young/Neighboring Cafe Operator: One day, it was clean and suddenly appeared, but all of my legs were cut off, and skin diseases like this one (Nago) were too sad, so we also looked at (rescue) with 100 rooms.]
"Seven dogs were found. The abandoned dog is wandering in the field", "The little cat with no eyes open is crying alone".
An average of 6 animals per day in Hwaseong-si alone are rescued by this report.
[Kang Jin-woo / Gyeonggi Hwaseong City Hall Livestock Section Manager: (Hwaseong City only) About 1,700 dogs are thrown away every year, and the number of discarded companion animals is increasing considerably.]
According to the analysis of the data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, a total of 947,000 in the last 10 years. A thousand animals were abandoned.
Most were dogs and cats, and summer was the most, especially July.
Since so many pets are thrown away, there are many cases of wild flowers being unable to rescue.
A ranch near Hanoreum in Jeju Island.
A roe deer corpse was found with only bone and skin left.
It is a trace of wild dogs hunting roe deer in groups.
[Hyun Seung-min/Lee Jang, Sumang-ri, Namwon-eup, Jeju: There are so many crows, so wild dogs eat (carcasses) and crows fly, so it was said that the roe deer died.]
In June, 4 heifers died from being bitten by wild dogs.
This year, 14 reports of damage to wild dogs were received in Jeju Island alone.
Since Jeju has the largest number of abandoned animals in the country compared to its population, its evils are gradually increasing.
[Inhabitants of Jocheon-eup, Jeju: Two (wild dogs) appear and chase after them.
If there is a problem due to an attack, it will not be over.]
---
<Reporter Ahn Hye-min>
Nationally, an average of 372 animals per day were registered as abandoned animals.
The rescued abandoned animals are sent directly to the local animal conservation center.
In principle, rescued animals can stay in the shelter for 10 days.
It is fortunate to find the original or new owner during this period, but failure to do so will result in euthanasia or natural death, i.e. death in some way.
However, not all are good at the conservation center, where the fate of abandoned animals is determined.
We visited a shelter in Changnyeong, Gyeongsangnam-do, which has the third highest death rate for abandoned animals in the country.
The cages with stray dogs are full of uncleaned excrement, and the feed in the feed container is mixed with sawdust laid on the floor.
[Kim Se-Hyun/Director of Beagle Rescue Network: What is this?
this.
Kids drink this water and don't get sick, really.]
It's not easy for the animals that have been rescued to stay healthy.
Opening the refrigerator, it contains veterinary medicines that cannot be used without a vet's prescription and have an expiration date of 2 years.
[Miran Yang/Beagle Rescue Network Rescue Team Leader: It doesn't matter if a veterinarian comes and uses (stored medicines), but it's a problem if someone who is not a veterinarian uses it.] From
2010 to last June, 47, which is half of the abandoned animals. Ten thousand died in the shelter.
It is about half of the cases when euthanasia was exceeded and natural death was exceeded.
The mortality rate of those who entrusted the protection of abandoned animals to the private sector was high.
[Kim Se-Hyun/Director of Beagle Rescue Network: There are all the rules for abandoned animal shelters.
However, there are few shelters that obey the rules.
(In the local government) It is a kind of way that only the ships of the consignors are called while giving the consignment.]
Failure to be properly treated at the shelter is also considered a cause of death.
At the time of registration, the rate of natural death of organic animals with confirmed diseases was nearly twice as high. Skin diseases and bruises were treated relatively well, but nearly half of fractures were not treated.
The average cure rate is around 60%.
[Seo Mijin/Senior activist of Animal Freedom Solidarity: (in the consignment shelter budget) because there is no separate treatment fee set.
Even if treatment is not done, it will stop, so the diseased abandoned animals are not properly treated...
.] It
is estimated that 18.84 million pets are raised by cats and dogs nationwide.
The number of abandoned animals registered last year was 133,000, the highest ever.
(Video coverage: Lee Byeong-ju, video editing: Lee Seung-jin, CG: Hong Seong-yong, Choi Jae-young, Lee Ye-jeong, Seong Jae-eun, VJ: Jeong Young-sam, Kim Choa, Jeong Han-wook)
<Anchor>
Currently, there are about 30,000 abandoned animals living in about 3,3 shelters nationwide, but it seems that over 100,000 animals were rescued until last month.
This is currently unacceptable in shelters.
In order to save these animals, we first need to change our wrong culture, which considers companion animals like toys and then easily buys them and throws them away.
In companion animals,'companion' means living life together.
We will continue to watch this issue with interest in the future.