Korean Job Discussion Forums

[animaladoptioninkorea]

Hi there,

PLEASE don't adopt an animal unless you intend to keep it.

It's stressful on the animal if you take it for reasons other than wanting to provide a good life for it and then give it up, especially if you have had it for a long time or since it was a baby.

PLEASE THINK OF THE ANIMAL!!

It's better to provide a foster home for animals in need than to adopt an animal, get it used to you and your routine, have it fall in love with you and then have it go to someone else. Cats and dogs are very sensitive creatures.

Once in a while, an emergency or some unforeseen situation may pop up which makes it impossible to keep a pet, but this should be the exception not the norm.

Anyone who's lived here for any amount of time knows how hard some animals have it.

Anyone familiar with animal issues knows that worldwide there a lots of abused, abandoned and special needs animals who need help.

Please don't add to the problem.

Seriously, if you t hink there's nothing wrong with keeping an animal for a while and then just passing it on to other people, then you should never have pets, pure and simple.

Don't give animals away for free!

For a list of the many reasons against this, go to PETA. org.

[esetters21]

Hmmm....so you are suggesting that people have a revolving door of animals? Don't get me wrong about fostering, because it is a great thing if done correctly with capable people trying to place the animals. How quick is the turnover in finding an animal a "forever" home here, and what kind of screening process do you use? Please give some statististics as to successful adopted animal placements in Korea and the demographics of the forever adoptees.

I'm not trying to be a jerk, as I am genuinly interested in this post and why you felt it necessary to tell people not to adopt. I'm not interested in the PETA site. I want to know your experiences in Korea as an animal activist.

[cyrax]

http://www.lonelylifetime.com/korea/success-stories/
Most of those dogs that were fostered and then adopted.

I fostered four dogs. Three were through Lonelylifetime. Generally I foster the dogs till I find a suitable home and then I meet the prospective adopter. We generally take a walk (if possible) with the dog and then I ask some questions (it is not an interrogation). If the match is right I give the dog. On average it took me 6 weeks to adopt out a dog in Seoul. Everyone of the adopters of my foster dogs was an expat.
I foster dogs mainly because it is hard for foreigners to adopt a rescue from the shelters. It is too much paper work and then there is the language barrier. I would love to have my own dog here but taking the dog back home would be too harsh on the animal. Besides I want to own a working breed (GSD to be precise) and it is impossible to do so in Seoul. Half the people on the road would die of a heart attack. Once I return home I will definitely adopt a GSD from the local shelter.
Hope that answers some of your questions.

[koon_taung_daeng]

who gives a shit if its stressful for the animal, if someone is nice enough to take care of it for a year then they are doing more good then bad. There is about 3 million starving Koreans to the north of us that would love to be fed for a year.

[Boodleheimer]

just out of curiousity, how much different can fostering be? i mean, the animal is still going to fall in love with you, it's still going to get used to your habits...

don't get me wrong; i adopted a kitty here that i would never let go. and it bugs the crap outta me when people leave their pets behind when they go home. i couldn't agree more with

[superdave]

it's all well and good to harp on about the way we treat animals ... but sadly, this is a country of 50 million people and many of them have quite a horrid attitude towards buying pets.

if you've walked down the street in cheung mu ro, past all the pet shops, you'd know what i mean. these animals are starved so that they don't grow. once they grow, their chances of being sold decrease. that means no profits for the greedy pet store owner. once the pet is beyond the 'cute puppy or kitty' stage, it's chances of being abandoned are high.

i'm generalising of course, but these are common stories here. i know it doesn't apply to every korean. but it does apply ... to a great many.

add to that the people who are backyard breeders, trying to make money off their sales, who are breeding in poor conditions and are promoting congenital defects in animals through in breeding and small breeding pools. this is unethical and inhumane.

then there's the ajumas who sell baby chicks, hamsters and turtles in the subway or in the streets near schools. these animals are sold for 500 won each and most don't live to see the end of the day.

it's all well and good for conscientious foreigners to try and do the right thing and take on pets that need care ... but what we do is a drop in the ocean. i agree that even a little help is better than nothing, but until attitudes change in korea, then pets are going to continue to suffer the horrid abuse that i see here daily.

am i saying koreans are bad people? no. not at all. but ask people here about their attitudes towards animals. or watch how their children treat a small pet. then you'll see how things really are. what's worse is that children will treat animals horribly, and their parents will watch but do nothing to instruct or educate their child. the parents do nothing and the child learns that this is acceptable behaviour.

america has the ASPCA and australia has the RSPCA. what does korea have? maybe the KSPCA ... but very few laws are enforced in this country ... and do you think the government is going to spend money enforcing laws about how people treat a dog that will be lucky to live for 3 years?

no ...

i think we should do everything we can to help animals. first and foremost, we shouldn't take an animal unless we're prepared to commit to looking after it.

take in a street cat for a year, then throw it back on the street?? that's cruel and heartless. you won't have helped that animal. you've just prolonged its misery. what are you going to do? take the animal for two years, then try to palm it off on other foreigners ... you haven't helped the animal, you've given yourself some comfort and amusement ... then you've discarded the animal when it's no longer convenient. that's what koreans do, and you'd be no better for doing it too.

i also think that if we are going to be active, we need to incorporate animal awareness programs into our teaching. if you work at a school or a hogwan ... there's nothing wrong with basing your lessons around treating animals and people with respect.

teach kids (and their ignorant parents) that smashing a baby chick against a wall is cruel and inhumane (i've seen this happen!)... not only that, but it also reflects on the person, to show that they're a careless, heartless human being.

then they might start to listen.

the problem is a lot bigger than a few foreigners talking in some web forum.

[livinginkunsan]

Ya, superdave, we are such a small percentage why even bother A few cant make a diffence, who cares if even one animal is treated better.

Actually, you know what dave, you dont seem "super" to me.. more like luke warm and wishywashy.

[superdave]

that's fine dude ... you're welcome to your opinion.

if you're not prepared to make a 10 year commitment to care for an animal, then you're part of the problem, not the solution.

[Bramble]

[esetters21]

Funny how the original poster has had no response to anyone's comments. I am an avid dog person that has both fostered and adopted several English Setters in the past in America. Sadly, my dogs have passed on recently. I just don't see the feasibility of fostering dogs here. Dogs do get attached and do not deserve to be shuffled around through a foster system in this country. I think if they can spend a year or two with a stable situation, then it is beneficial to both the animal and the adopter. Just my two cents. That is why I posed the questions that I did to the OP. Give some facts other than that PETA link!

[nottanya]

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has." ... Margret Mead

[Bramble]

[hubba bubba]

I've thought this a lot. Here's what I've decided.

It's better to give an animal a home for a year, and then pass it off to someone else than let it die in a shelter/on the street.

[Bramble]

[ehsann24]

This is a stupid post...close the damn thing......you take animals cut their dicks of and block their pussies so they cant have sex and cant have babies...now that is cruel, animal needs to be free in the wild and do their thing...you animal lovers kill the poor cats and dogs,,,,