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Police efforts to protect abuse victims hampered by lack of pet care facilities

Published: 01 Sep. 2025, 16:39 Updated: 01 Sep. 2025, 17:48

An image shows a victim of a relationship crime considering whether to enter a temporary shelter while leaving a dog behind. [JOONGANG ILBO]

Crime victims in Seoul are turning down emergency shelter when they cannot bring their pets, while the city’s animal foster program faces a funding shortfall.

One woman, threatened at home by her partner, rejected a police offer of temporary shelter because she could not leave her dog behind.

“We see this a lot when no shelter in the precinct allows pets,” a police official said. “Even in the middle of the night, people flee and then hesitate to enter because they cannot take their animals.”

The question of how to place pets has become a new variable in responding to relationship crimes, where separating victims and perpetrators quickly is often critical.

Seoul currently operates a program that connects crime victims with temporary pet care, known as “Our Neighborhood Pet Foster Care” (translated).

The city said on Sunday that districts have nearly exhausted this year’s budget and expect to run out around October.

Seoul initially created the program to alleviate the burden of pet care on low-income households, including basic welfare recipients, households just above the poverty line and single-parent families.

The city expanded eligibility to include stalking and other crime victims in September last year. Officials noted that few emergency shelters accept animals, and it can be costly for victims to arrange long-term care on their own.

Visitors receive health consultations for their dogs at the Konkuk University Animal Hospital booth during the 2025 K-Pet Fair Seoul at Coex in southern Seoul on Aug. 13. [NEWS1]

At police request, the city links victims to foster facilities even at night, and allows up to 50 days of extended foster care for animals owned by crime victims. However, the program remains relatively new, and funding remains limited.

This year’s combined budget across 17 participating districts totals about 100 million won ($72,000).

Most districts allocate about 5 million to 6 million won. Gwangjin District finished spending its 4.5 million won allocation in August and cannot connect more cases for the rest of the year.

As of Aug. 22, Jungnang District and Songpa District had already used more than 4 million won of their 6 million won budgets.

The program does not reserve funds exclusively for crime victims, and long-term placements deplete the pool more quickly. Demand also spikes around major holidays when households seek foster care for more extended stays.

City officials plan to expand the program to all districts next year, but said they cannot fill budget gaps until then.

They can try to route cases to the Seoul Animal Care Center, but only three exist — in Mapo District, Guro District, and Dongdaemun District — and they share space with abandoned animals, which limits their capacity.

The centers also accept daytime admissions only, leaving late-night emergencies uncovered.

Visitors receive health consultations for their dogs at the Konkuk University Animal Hospital booth during the 2025 K-Pet Fair Seoul at Coex in southern Seoul on Aug. 13. [NEWS1]

Some critics question whether taxpayer funds should cover animal protection for victims of crime. Specialists counter that abusers often use pets as leverage in relationship crimes, and victims risk secondary harm when they refuse shelter to protect their animals.

Sociologist Clifton Flynn cited a U.S. study in "Understanding Animal Abuse: A Sociological Analysis" (2012), noting that about 20 percent of 107 women at a South Carolina shelter delayed leaving an abuser out of concern for their pets.

In a case this May in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi, a man allegedly kidnapped and killed his former partner after threatening to abuse her dog.

“Animal abuse functions as a form of control over victims,” said Heo Min-sook, a senior researcher at the National Assembly Research Service. “Abusers use threats against pets to send the message, ‘You are next.’

“It is dangerous to let victims remain at home simply because they have no safe place for their pets. The foster care program is so important that the central government should operate it.”

Kwon-Kim Hyun-young, a research activist and director of the Women's Reality Research Institute, also shared a similar opinion.

“As the number of single-person households with pets increases, the effectiveness of the foster care system for crime victims is clear, and the budget should be expanded," she said.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY OH SO-YEONG [[email protected]]