Man reported to police for allegedly abusing dog in public

A man pulls his dog on a leash up and down in Eunpyeong District, north western Seoul, in this screenshot from a video uploaded by the local animal rights activist group, Care, on Facebook. / Screenshot from Care's Facebook page

By Lee Hae-rin

An animal rights group reported a man to the police, Monday, for violating the Animal Protection Act. He allegedly yanked aggressively on his dog's leash, lifting the animal off the ground.

The report came a day after the group, Care, uploaded a video of the man on its Facebook and Instagram accounts, asking for internet users' help in finding the alleged animal abuser from Eunpyeong District.

In the video clip, the man repeatedly lifts the dog off the ground by the leash as if he were playing with a yo-yo, and then beats the dog with his hand. This video went viral and enraged many internet users.

Activists from the organization found the dog owner, 82, on Monday morning.

"The man did not understand that what he did was animal abuse and told us he treated the dog in such manner because he was 'angry,'" Kim Young-hwan, the head of the activist group, told The Korea Times.

The man insisted that he cannot live without the dog, but the activists convinced him to hand over ownership of the dog to the organization, Kim explained.

The one-year-old Maltese displayed signs of fear and anxiety around his owner although it had no signs of injury. It is now under the protection of the organization at a local animal hospital. The dog will be adopted by one of many candidate owners who applied to adopt it, according to Kim.

According to the Animal Protection Act, the punishments for animal abuse are strong for international standards, such as a maximum three-year jail term or fines of 30 million won according to abuse resulting in the death of an animal, and two years in prison and 20 million won for acts resulting in physical injuries.

The maximum punishments, however, have never been handed down.

"The problem is that the crimes are never taken seriously enough to get the maximum penalty," Kim said.

"Both the physical and psychological aspects of animal abuse, along with its seriousness, must be recognized to prevent animal abuse in the future," Kim said.

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