Only Licensed Pet Sellers Allowed to Trade Animals...79% of Gyeonggi Residents Support

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hun] A survey shows that eight out of ten Gyeonggi Province residents support restricting pet sales qualifications through national and local government licenses.

Gyeonggi Province announced on the 21st that it conducted a "public opinion survey on pet trading" targeting 1,000 residents from the 11th to 12th of last month, revealing that 79% supported "restricting pet sales qualifications through licenses issued by national and local governments."

Furthermore, 77% of residents responded "in favor" of banning private pet transactions and permitting only sales by licensed producers or adoptions through institutions such as animal protection centers.

Additionally, 76% of residents supported a plan to shorten pet distribution channels by allowing direct transactions between producers and prospective adopters.

Survey results on adoption routes showed that the proportion of free adoptions through acquaintances or abandoned animal protection and adoption centers was similar to the proportion of paid "purchases."

When asked about adoption routes (multiple responses), 57% came from free sources: acquaintances (45%), abandoned animal protection and adoption centers (7%), strangers (5%), and others. "Paid routes" accounted for 53%: offline pet shops (33%), paid adoption from acquaintances (10%), paid adoption from strangers (5%), and online pet shops (4%).

The most desirable pet adoption route was "adoption from abandoned animal protection and adoption centers" at 42% of respondents.

Other popular options included ▲free adoption from acquaintances (25%) ▲paid adoption from acquaintances (12%) ▲adoption from offline pet shops (8%).

The Province analyzed that consensus has formed around the message "adopt, don't buy."

In questions regarding Gyeonggi Province's animal policies, most received positive scores, including enforcement activities against violations of the Animal Protection Act by special judicial police (81%) and pet policies such as developing a pet theme park in Yeoju and operating pet adoption centers (77%).

The survey was commissioned by Gyeonggi Province to K-STAT Research Co., Ltd., and conducted from May 11-12 through telephone interviews using wired and wireless RDD targeting 1,000 residents aged 18 and over. The sampling error is ±3.1%p at a 95% confidence level.

Meanwhile, Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung visited the animal protection and welfare facility "The Bom Center" in Paju City in January, stating, "Just as the saying goes 'adopt, don't buy,' it is right to minimize transactions and enable adoptions," and emphasized that "factory-style production and sales must be prohibited, and licenses must be strictly issued to those who can take responsibility for adoptions."

The Province will hold a "National Assembly forum on dog consumption and pet trading system improvements" at the Eum Center in Yeouido on the 22nd, providing a venue for public discussion on related legislation and system improvements.