This undated file photo shows dogs at an animal shelter in Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Oct. 5 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of abandoned animals in South Korea passed the 130,000 mark in 2019 amid a decline in animal shelters, government data showed Monday.
A total of 135,791 dogs, cats and other pets got deserted or lost last year, compared with 121,077 a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.
The data was submitted to a ruling party lawmaker for an annual parliamentary inspection of the ministry.
The number of abandoned pets in South Korea has soared 67.3 percent over the past five years, rocketing to last year’s tally from slightly over 81,100 in 2014.
Gyeonggi Province, surrounding the South Korean capital of Seoul, posted the largest number of 28,212 last year, followed by the southern province of South Gyeongsang with 14,174.
In contrast to a steady annual rise in abandoned pets, the number of animal shelters stood at 284 last year, down 7.5 percent from 2015.
(Yonhap)
