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Police arrest operators, dog owners involved in illegal dogfighting ring

Published: 17 Apr. 2026, 10:35

An illegal dog fighting site set up in Daegu [KOREA ANIMAL WELFARE ASSOCIATION]

Police have arrested operators and dog owners involved in an illegal dogfighting ring set up in a secluded mountain area.

The Dalseong Police Precinct in Daegu is investigating multiple operators on charges including violations of the Animal Protection Act and gambling.

Dog owners who entered their pets into the illegal fights are also being investigated on similar charges.

According to police, the operators are accused of running the illegal gambling ring at around 11 p.m. on Saturday at a vacant lot near a mountain in Guji-myeon, Dalseong County.

When police arrived at the scene following a report, they found a steel dogfighting ring, blunt instruments used to forcibly stop fights and veterinary drugs.

Several people were also seen fleeing the scene in vehicles to avoid the police raid.

“When we arrived at the site, people who had already heard the news were leaving in cars, so we were unable to catch them in the act of gambling,” a representative for the police said. “We detained dozens of people leaving the scene to verify their identities and are investigating whether they actually participated in gambling.”

“Since the investigation is ongoing, we cannot disclose the scale of the operation, including the number of operators and dog owners involved,” the official added.

A representative from the Korea Animal Welfare Association, which accompanied police to the scene, said that operators of such gambling rings move locations across the country to evade authorities and allow only identified participants to join games where tens of millions of won are at stake.

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 JUNG SI-NAE [[email protected]]