Members of a judicial policing body under the Seoul Metropolitan Government search a site suspected of animal abuse. Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government

By Ko Dong-hwan

A new unit of law enforcers was launched in Seoul earlier this month to find and stop animal abusers as the frequency of incidents and brutality have been on the rise.

The judicial policing body under the Seoul Metropolitan Government consists of 12 members. They include veterinarians and inspectors with at least five years of field investigation experience. They have also received training from police officers who are experienced in investigating crimes involving animal abuse as well as dealing and working with animal protection groups.

The city government introduced the new police unit after the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office decided last September to assign the issue of animal protection as a new mission objective to the judicial policing body in addition to crimes regarding food and the environment.

The new unit was launched as violations of the country's Animal Protection Act have increased more than threefold from 303 in 2016 to over 1,000 in 2021, according to National Police Agency's latest data. The authority added that the abuse carried out on animals has been increasingly brutal.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon on Friday visited the judicial police officers' office on Mount Nam and encouraged them to fulfill their duties to the best of their abilities.

Animal abuse includes offenses like intentionally killing or physically injuring animals, selling lost animals that were previously owned, exposing to the public photos or videos of animals being abused, as well as operating businesses that sell or produce animals without a license.

The Animal Protection Law states that abusers who kill an animal can get imprisoned for up to three years or fined up to 30 million won ($21,000). Those who intentionally injure an animal can also get imprisoned for up to two years or fined up to 20 million won.

"An increasing number of people are raising pets and more people are gaining newfound respect for animal rights and animals' lives. Unfortunately, there has also been a significant increase in the cases of animal abuse and how cold-blooded these criminals have become," said Kim Myeong-joo, the chief of the animal abuse police.