This file photo, provided by the Seoul city government, shows an abandoned dog being protected at an animal protection facility in Seoul on March 24, 2022.
SEOUL, June 13 (Korea Bizwire) — Most animal bite victims in South Korea over the last three years were hurt by dogs.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 670 cases of animal bite accidents in 2019, 302 in 2020 and 130 in 2021.
The number of animal bite reports had been on the rise since 2005 (359 cases) before it began to drop in 2020, possibly due to a lack of outdoor activities during the pandemic era.
Animal bite incidents reported last year occurred mostly in Gangwon (63.1 percent) and Gyeonggi provinces (30.8 percent). May had the most animal bite incidents at 15.3 percent, while December had the least (1 percent).
At 80.8 percent, the vast majority of the animal bite accidents involved dog bites, followed by cats (14.6 percent).
Among dog bites, 76.2 percent were perpetrated by house pets, followed by breeding dogs (15.2 percent) and stray dogs (8.6 percent).
Among cat bites, 63.2 percent were perpetrated by wild cats, followed by domestic cats (36.8 percent).
No cases of rabies have been reported in South Korea since 2014, while no person in the country has been infected by mad-dog disease since 2005.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
