Fw: Korean Animal News

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Saturday, 20 October, 2001 05:28

Korean Animal News

 

 

Friday, October 19, 2001

 

Dear Animal Friends,

 

Today we have both good and bad news to share with you on the Korean animal

front. First, the good news:

 

The Korea Herald, an international English-language newspaper based in

Seoul, has published an article on IAKA/KAPS and the plight of Korean

animals in their October 19, 2001 edition. The Korea Herald has a broad

readership base, which gives us a wonderful opportunity to reach a wide

spectrum of people and raise awareness of the dire situation facing

companion animals in South Korea. To read the article, please visit this

link:

http://koreaherald.com/SITE/data/html_dir/2001/10/19/200110190069.asp, or

read the text-only version at the bottom of this email.

 

The bad news is that in South Korea's Jeju province, local government

officials have given permission to a dog farmer to construct the southern

island's largest-ever factory farm for dog breeding.

 

On October 8, KAPS lead veterinarian, Dr. Im, appeared as a guest panelist

on the the Korean NBC TV network television show " Jeju Today " to discuss

whether local government has breached the law by granting permission to

build a dog-breeding facility, and whether or not this would hurt tourism in

the region. The panel, which included a university professor and a

prominent businessman, agreed that the local Jeju government was exploiting

the international terrorist crisis to push through illegal or unfavorable

permits and legislation. As you know, dogs are not included in the Korean

Ministry of Agriculture's " Livestock Animals for Meat Production " , which is

why we need your help to protest these illegal actions!

 

If you can, send a strong email message to the following people, voicing

your disapproval of the Jeju government's granting permission to build South

Korea's largest dog-breeding facility.

 

Mr. Kim Dae-Jung, President of South Korea: webmaster

Mr. Kim Dong-Tae, Minstry of Agriculture: minister

Mr. Yang Kyu-Hwan, Director, Korean Food and Drug Administration:

kh1yang

Mr. Yu Kun-Man, Governor of Jeju province: E-mail : wookm

 

Thank you for all of your efforts on behalf of Korean dogs and cats!

Together, we can help usher South Korea's animal welfare system into the

21st Century.

 

Yours Sincerely,

 

Kyenan Kum

International Aid for Korean Animals

 

________

 

THE KOREA HERALD

 

October 19, 2001, Friday

Crowded animal shelters struggling with lack of public interest, funding for

abandoned pets

By Cahill Staff reporter

 

While trendy pet stores and backyard breeders proliferate, churning out a

seemingly endless supply of cute and fuzzy puppies, kittens and bunnies,

Korean animal advocates Sunnan Kum and her sister Kyenan are leading a

desperate and disheartening struggle to clean up the mess: The sad

consequences of irresponsible breeding and a system that treats animals as

disposable commodities.

 

Every country in the world struggles with the problem of abused and homeless

animals, and Korea is no exception. Yet its humane standards don't match up

to those in many other countries, say the Kums, co-founders of the Korean

Animal Protection Society (KAPS) and International Aid for Korean Animals

(IAKA). Kyenan, who was born in Korea and now lives in Oakland, Calif., is

the English-language contact for the two organizations, and operates IAKA to

generate funds and support for KAPS, led by Sunnan in Daegu. The sisters say

no real programs are yet in place to find homes for strays, control their

numbers through spaying and neutering, or educate the public about

responsible guardianship. Despite an animal protection law passed in 1991

that mandates some measure of humane treatment, they charge that Korean

animals remain essentially unprotected. " The animal protection law of 1991

is useless and has never been enforced, " Kyenan told The Korea Herald.

" Also, technically it is a skeleton law and there is no enforceable detail

law (requiring specific action). That is why we are asking the government to

amend the law. "

 

The KAPS Web site details the gruesome fates of so many of Korea's homeless

animals. Many die in the streets, while others fall victim to butchers and

laboratories. Photos show the organization's tiny shelter in Daegu virtually

flooded with needy animals - the shelter is so crowded that some must be

accommodated in the stairwell and on the roof. The facilities are

inadequate, KAPS readily admits.

 

Under Korean law, lost and stray animals must be held for a minimum of 30

days to allow their guardians to locate them, and animal shelters must post

public notices. (Minimum holding periods in North America usually range from

three days to a week, with no public notice requirements.) After the 30

days, animals can be adopted, killed or handed over to laboratories.

 

Kyenan, however, called the 30-day holding period " a moot issue, " since she

said the law has never been enforced and few shelters exist. Those in

existence do not exactly have stellar records, she charged, accusing one

organization of " many cruel acts toward rescued animals - especially to the

cats, " and of turning homeless animals over to laboratories, a practice

opposed by KAPS and IAKA. Sunnan and Kyenan plan to replace their current

shelter with a new one, modeled after the most successful animal shelters

abroad such as the National Canine Defense League in the UK and the San

Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in the United

States.

 

" Sunnan's dream is to have a no-kill sanctuary, " Kyenan explained, " but

under certain circumstances we do practice euthanasia. If we do not have

space at our shelter, people will sell or give their animals to the

butchers, and we prefer humane euthanasia over torture and slaughter at the

hands of these butchers ... we are overcrowded and without proper facilities

or training or personnel. "

 

Kyenan said the new sanctuary would provide much better conditions for the

animals, featuring more space and indoor/outdoor access. " We are modeling

our cat area after a successful East Coast cat sanctuary, " she said. The new

facility will also feature a wildlife rehabilitation center, which will

provide temporary care for orphaned and injured wild animals until they can

be released. To prevent overcrowding in the new shelter, KAPS will spay or

neuter all the animals it admits; if the animals are reclaimed, their

guardians will not be able to sue the organization and must pay for the

surgery. All animals will be spayed and neutered prior to adoption, and

potential adopters will be carefully screened to make sure they can offer

decent homes. In defense of the spay and neuter policy, Kyenan said foreign

shelters with high adoption rates also have active sterilization programs;

she stressed that it is one of KAPS' biggest priorities. The organization

now offers free spaying and neutering for the animals of low-income people,

and would like to expand this work with a mobile clinic when it can afford

one.

 

Further, Kyenan fears many adopters wouldn't bring baby animals back for

surgery once they could safely handle the anesthetic, saying they usually

forget or decide not to. For this reason, KAPS does not make puppies and

kittens available for adoption until they are old enough to be spayed or

neutered.

 

Kyenan and Sunnan expect the creation of a modern shelter with well-run

adoption, education and spay/neuter programs to require " an enormous amount

of funding. " So far they have purchased land near Chunan City, about halfway

between Seoul and Daegu, and raised about $70,000 through private donations.

They will need much more to complete the project, but to date the government

has rejected their grant proposals. Kyenan said that government officials

tend to think, " We cannot even care for people, so why should we care for

animals? "

 

Sunnan, however, believes the project would benefit Korean society as well

as the animals. As stated in her plan, " The new shelter will be a model for

future governmental animal shelters ... Also, (it) will help Korea shed its

image as a collective animal abuser by becoming a place for young children

to visit and learn about animals. "

 

It's important to put the Korean situation in perspective. Animal People, a

U.S. animal welfare publication, reported in its June issue: " Proportionate

to the total canine and feline population, the numbers (of former companion

animals used for meat in Korea) are likely less than the numbers of American

pets who were dumped at shelters and sold to laboratories less than one

generation ago, when the present pet-keeping ethic was just starting to be

accepted. " Apparently, the work of KAPS and IAKA is evidence of similar

progress, however slow.

 

" Please remember, " said Kyenan, " that the shelter has only been in existence

10 years with a shoestring budget. " This is much less than the 100-plus

years humane societies have been established in some Western countries, and

KAPS can learn from the mistakes of its foreign counterparts. " Sunnan's sole

purpose in life is to care for the animals of South Korea, " Kyenan wrote,

" so understand that although progress is rather slow, whatever power and

money Sunnan attains she directs totally and completely toward improving and

expanding her animal welfare endeavors. "

 

(cahill)