Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) of Korea has finally announced a proposed bill for the amendment of the Animal Protection Law yesterday.

We cannot slacken the rein until the bill passes the National Assembly and will have to be ready for the upcoming obstacles we will be confronted with after the bill passes. We think it's early to drink a toast yet but we're pleased to expect the amendment of the Animal Protection Law will make the riffle.

All the animal protection groups in Korea have been working very hard for the amendment of the Law and their effort for a close cooperation with one another in order to produce a right amendment is something which can be highly esteemed later. Six major animal protection groups in Korea formed a committee called Committee for Propelling the Amendment of the Animal Protection Law to be a driving force of the new amendment of the Animal Protection Law.

Unfortunately there was a group who dropped off in the middle due to the discord with the other groups, which was pretty sad. The rest of groups such as AFK, VOICE4animals, KAAP, KAPCA and CAREKorea continued to work together closely tiding over difficulties and submitted a draft for the new amendment of the Animal Protection Law to the government.

As a result, the MAF's proposed bill is mostly reflecting the draft proposed and submitted by the groups mentioned above under the name of the Committee. The Committee and Korean Veterinary Medical Association were the only organizations who submitted the draft of the amendment of the Law in a full text. Thus no one can deny the fact that the achievement which will be in the amendment of the Law is indebted to the tremendous endeavor the Committee has made.

In addition, the positive will of MAF for the amendment of the Law deserves praise as well. The public announcement of the ¡®package of measures for animal protection, 2004 which was broadcast throughout the whole nation was made in accordance with the directions of the Minister of MAF, which was exceptional. We should accord due praise to MAF while making a constant effort to make our requests be reflected to the Law.

The summary of the package of measures in the press release is divided into the following 4 categories;

1. Fortified penalties and surveillance on animal abuse

The ban on the dog meat trade and consumption didn't manage to be included this time but the penalties for cruelty to animals were fortified and there is more onus put on companion animal owners and sellers the violation of which will lead to a fine or an imprisonment. Detailed cruelty actions to animals will be specified and the boundary of the cruelty will be expanded. The local governments will have their own animal protection inspectors and honorary inspectors.

2. Companion animal control system

A registration system for companion animal sellers and breeders will be introduced and more responsibilities will be imposed on them. Based on the Animal Protection Law details will be decided by ordinance or regulations of local governments. The age of the animals for sale will be confined and the vaccination of the animals will be obligatory. Disposal of dead animals will be specified and companion animal funeral service system will be implemented.

3. Fortified protection and management for stray animals

Major cities will have a responsibility for building a stray animal shelter. Eligibility rules will be made for those adopting stray animals in order to prevent re-abandonment.

4. Education and advertisement on animal protection

Education on animal protection will be conducted for those in relevant areas or elementary school students. A annual campaign period (or day) will be designated for educating the general public.

It's still early to celebrate. If the bill passes, the subordinate laws such as enforcement ordinance or regulations will be the major areas of our concern. The groups in the Committee who silently work for all animals, not confined to dogs and cats, won't stop making their devoted effort for rights and welfare of the animals and will always tell their supporters the truth without taking credit to themselves.

The draft of MAF will be fully translated and sent over to you soon and in the mean time please find the attached copy of the newspaper articles.

Thank you again for your constant interest in animals in Korea.

Sincerely yours,

Hyojungn Kim

Director of International Cooperation Department

Heekyung Jo

President

Animal Freedom Korea

www.animals.or.kr

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English news paper articles

*Note!!

The newspapers use words such as 'pet' or 'pet owners' in their articles but MAF used 'companion animals' instead throughout the package measures and the press release.

The underlined part is the area where there is misunderstanding of the reporter. The animal rights groups in Korea agree on identification tags or chips for companion animals.

Animal rights bill proposed by ministry

Choongang Daily Online News

October 6, 2004

In a sign of the changing times, the Ministry of Agriculture yesterday announced a proposed bill on animal rights.
Korea has faced international criticism in the past for practices such as dog meat consumption and dog fighting, but in recent years, a craze for pets has swept the nation.
If the bill passes the National Assembly this year, those caught abusing animals can be charged with a criminal offense. The bill forbids any kind of gambling related to dogs, such as dogfights. Beating dogs or publicly killing and butchering them can cost the perpetrator a fine of up to 2 million won ($1,735), or 10 times more than fines now.
The bill also puts more onus on pet owners and sellers. It requires pet shop owners to provide buyers with vaccination certificates. Bags for excretion should always be carried by dog owners, and dogs must be on leashes when taken out in public. The ministry is also considering electronic dog tags, with information such as breed, owner's telephone number and vaccination information.
And as 25,000 dogs are abandoned every year, the bill says that cities with more than 500,000 residents must build animal shelters.

Pets Must Be Leashed, Tagged in Public Places

From 2006 Korea Times

October 6, 2004

By Bae Keun-min Staff Reporter

From 2006, people will be required to leash and tag their pets when they outdoors. Pet owners will also be responsible for carrying containers to dispose of pet waste.

In addition, the government will stipulate specific lists of unacceptable behavior, including dog fighting and racing, in the animal protection law to prevent cruelty to animals.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) said Wednesday that it has prepared a revision of the animal protection law, in order to enhance the level of the protection to those of advanced nations, including implementation of funeral services for pets.

The revision will embody the current law only containing ideas of animal protection in concrete lists of malicious activities, the MAF said. Moreover, penalties for misbehavior will be fortified.

For instance, dog racing and dogfights will be specified as malicious acts and violators will be either fined up to two million won or be sentenced to up to six months in prison.

People will be required to leash and tag their pets when out in public as well as remove any animal waste and violators will be fined, the MAF said.

The central government will ask local and district governments to implement the pet registration system and the tag system together.

However, the revision contains a controversial item _ an electronic chip implant in place of pet tags. The government said it will allow electronic tags, which have been opposed from pet-owners and animal right activists.

In addition, the government plans to implement a funeral service system for pets to take care of dead pets in a humane way.

Pet retailers will be required to report to the government before beginning business and pets in stores must be vaccinated before being sold.

The revision will be confirmed after gathering public opinion, MAF officials said.

The MAF, however, has reserved inclusion of regulations on dog meat, which has brought South Korea much criticism from animal rights activists.

The MAF said it will amend the animal protection law in the first half of next year and start implementing the changes from 2006