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| A pet dog is in a cage after being rescued by domestic animal rights organization Life from a wildfire in Uljin, North Gyeongsang Province, March 6. Screenshot from Life's Instagram |
By Lee Hae-rin
Animal rights groups have rescued over 100 domestic and farm animals that had been left behind by their owners fleeing wildfires in Uljin, North Gyeongsang Province, raising the need for government guidelines on evacuating and sheltering animals amid disasters.
Care, a domestic animal rights group, rescued over 10 dogs that were chained in yards or locked in slaughterhouses, Saturday. The rescued animals are receiving treatment for burns at veterinary clinics in Seoul or under the temporary protection of volunteers, the group said.
"In previous disasters, most domestic dogs were left behind chained in their yards and they burned to death. Fortunately, many were unleashed this time and survived the fire," a Care activist who has been rescuing animals from fires since 2006 told The Korea Times, Monday.
"However, it's a different story with farm animals. Many people refused to let go of dogs and cows in cattle sheds because they can receive damage compensation if the animals are killed in a fire disaster," the activist said. Some residents denied the group's animal rescue assistance and even threatened activists with force, shouting, "Will you compensate us for the lost animals?"
The activist explained that the lack of government guidelines for the evacuation and sheltering of domestic and farm animals in disasters led to such confusion.
Meanwhile, Korean Animal Rights Advocates (KARA) evacuated over 80 animals from a rescue shelter run by the local government of Uljin, Saturday. The shelter was in chaos as the flames approached, as it had neither equipment nor manuals for animal evacuation in emergencies, a KARA activist said.
"These animals in the public shelters are under the protection of the government, but the local authority was not prepared for their evacuation at all," a KARA activist told The Korea Times, Monday. The local government belatedly designated a temporary evacuation spot in response to the group's request.
Several other animal rescue groups, including Life, Korean Animal Welfare Association, Reverse and We Act, have been rescuing animals from the flames.
In the U.S., the PETS Act was passed in 2006 in response to criticism of the failure to protect animals during Hurricane Katrina. The legislation led to building animal-friendly shelters in areas affected by hurricanes, and state governments included animals in their emergency plans to receive a subsidy from the federal government.
Also, Japan established domesticated animal rescue guidelines for disasters in 2013 and encourages people to take refuge with their animals. The country's previous evacuation experiences led to a consensus that animals left behind during disaster evacuation could eventually cause greater social costs, as they may become wild.
As Korea has been seeing a growing number of disasters, such as wildfires and floods, animal activists are voicing the need for the government's disaster preparedness for animals.
"Nothing has changed since the wildfire in Goseong three years ago when the calls grew for animal evacuation guidelines. Domestic and farm animals are living beings and need government protection from disasters," a KARA official said.
