Era of 3.49 Million Companion Animals... Only 11% of Rescued Animals Return to Families

[Financial News] 
The number of households raising companion animals is rapidly increasing. Last year, the number of registered dogs and cats in Korea exceeded 3.49 million. According to the '2024 Companion Animal Protection and Welfare Survey' released by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs on the 27th, the cumulative number of registered animals reached 3,491,607, an increase of 6.3% from the previous year.
The number of newly registered companion animals was 245,236, a decrease of 4.9% from the previous year. However, the cumulative number of registrations continues to increase. Among the newly registered animals, there were 245,000 dogs and 15,000 cats. The number of newly registered cats is increasing every year.
Cases of violations of the Animal Protection Act have also increased. Last year, there were 1,293 cases of violations of the Animal Protection Act, an increase of 12.8% from the previous year. Among the violations, neglect of animal management (826 cases) was the most common, while animal abuse, injury, and abandonment were 55 cases, a decrease of 32% from the previous year.



The number of rescued lost and abandoned animals was 107,000, a decrease of 5.5% from the previous year. Among the rescued animals, 11.4% returned to their owners, and 23.5% were adopted. 27.5% died naturally, 18.5% were humanely euthanized, and 13.5% were under protection. The region with the highest adoption rate compared to rescued animals was Gyeongbuk (32.6%), followed by Daegu and Chungbuk.



The average duration of animal protection at animal shelters was 28.1 days, an increase of one day from the previous year. By region, Jeonnam (39.3 days) and Gyeongnam (39 days) were the longest, while Seoul was the shortest at 14.5 days. There are 231 animal shelters nationwide (including 75 directly operated by local governments). The total number of employees is 999, and the annual operating cost amounts to 46.4 billion won. The average cost per animal is 435,000 won.


The stray cat neutering project is also expanding. Last year, 133,235 stray cats were neutered, with an average cost of 195,000 won per cat. This is an increase of 11,698 cats from the previous year.
The companion animal-related industry is also growing. The number of businesses and employees in animal grooming and boarding services increased by about 15% from the previous year. Animal grooming accounted for 43.2% of the total.

spring@fnnews.com Lee Bomi Reporter