After controversy erupted when some animals sold by Seoul Grand Park were sent to slaughterhouses, park officials announced that the animals will be repurchased, and will be cared for at other zoos and farms. (Image : Yonhap)
SEOUL, Oct. 19 (Korea Bizwire) – After controversy erupted when some animals sold by Seoul Grand Park were sent to slaughterhouses, park officials announced that the animals will be repurchased, and will be cared for at other zoos and farms.
Seoul Grand Park sold 43 animals through an open tender in August. However, CARE (Coexistence of Animal Rights on Earth), an animal rights organization, claimed that the animals were sold to a slaughterhouse, and confirmed that one of the animals sold, a black goat, was actually slaughtered. They demanded that the park repurchase the animals that were sold.
AJ Garcia, head of CARE’s American corporate body, staged a hunger strike in front of the official residence of the Mayor of Seoul starting on October 9, when the organization’s demands were not granted.
Seoul Grand Park went through four negotiating sessions with CARE, and eventually an agreement was reached to repurchase the animals by bearing the costs together. AJ Garcia stopped his strike as soon as the arrangement was concluded.
The 25 million won needed to repurchase the animals will be covered by three different organizations. Seoul Grand Park and CARE will each pay 10 million won, and the Korean Animal Welfare Association will pay five million won.
The repurchased animals will be sent to other zoos or farms, which will be restricted from sterilizing or reselling any male animals. In addition, the animals will be put down when further treatment of illness is impossible, and selling the any dead animals for edible purposes will be banned.
The repurchase and transportation of the animals to their new homes are scheduled to take place this month.
Seoul Grand Park is planning to establish guidelines for the moral welfare of its animals, and guidelines to control breeding to maintain an optimal number of animals will be included. Park officials also plan to strengthen the regulations for selling animals, including increasing sales prices.
By Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
