This photo provided by the Beagle Rescue Network shows an animal protection facility in the southwestern county of Cheongyang.
SEOUL, Feb. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — Animal protection facilities run by municipal and provincial authorities are in poor condition, requiring immediate attention.
The Beagle Rescue Network (BRN), a non-profit organization for animal rescue, visited 93 animal protection facilities and found numerous cases of animal deaths caused by mass euthanasia or starvation.
One animal protection facility run by the city of Nonsan, South Chungcheong Province was found to have kept abandoned dogs outside during heat waves or cold snaps, exposing them to parasite infections and other health risks.
The BRN reported that animal facilities run by Geumsan County, South Chungcheong Province and Yeongcheon County, North Gyeongsang Province are keeping animals outside.
Yesan County in South Chungcheong Province turned out to be running an animal facility not at the official address registered on the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency database but at a poorly kept greenhouse at a different location.
The greenhouse was built suspended above the ground, in order to process the excrements below.
In many cases where veterinary clinics have been delegated as operators, the facilities were run at private locations away from the registered address.
Animal facilities run by Goseong County in Gangwon Province, Hwasun County in South Jeolla Province and Cheongdo County in North Gyeongsang Province did not even have scanners to read identification chips embedded in the animals, neglecting their responsibility to make efforts to return the abandoned animals to their owners.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
