KAPS: Korean Animal Protection Society

KAPS began when Sunnan Kum, KAPS' Founder and CEO, was adamant that her husband and children share the family apartment with five cats who desperately needed homes. Her husband disagreed and demanded that Sunnan do something. Sunnan obliged - by taking money from her husband's drugstore business and buying a house for the animals. That purchase has since grown into the Korean Animal Protection Society, which Sunnan has overseen since 1982. Her love for animals has manifested itself as three KAPS shelters:

• A cat shelter, still in the Daegu house that Sunnan bought in 1982, holds 70 to 100 cats and a handful of dogs.
• A dog shelter in Daegu can keep up to 80 small and big dogs. Previously located in the third and fourth floors of a building, the shelter moved down the street in October 2010 to a cleaner seven-room, first-floor facility with a fenced-in area.
• And a sanctuary in Boeun, which opened in 2007, houses up to 40 big dogs and up to 50 cats in a countryside setting with mountains and a reservoir as the backdrop.

Sunnan picked up her love for animals from her father. He taught her from a young age to respect all life - animals and plants included. By 20, Sunnan became so disillusioned by the Koreans' poor treatment of animals that she chose to block out the sight of all hurting animals. Some time later, Sunnan was jarred by the sight of a cat with mange living in a gutter. Within two years, Sunnan's instincts took over to the point where she could no longer look at an animal in need without wanting to help.

Sunnan continues to work on behalf of the animals that are discarded for a host of reasons: the abused, the dog meat trade victims, the stray, the relinquished... While these animals all come from sad pasts, we can help make their future bright by volunteering our time and resources to help the animals of KAPS. KAPS is thankful for all their volunteers and would love if you would like to join our team! Feel free to join KAPS' Facebook page and/or contact KAPS.Volunteering (at) gmail.com about how you can get more involved.

KAPS additional Coordinators can be reached at:
KAPS.Publications (at) gmail.com for more information on KAPS and our policies, or for writing about KAPS and spreading awareness.
KAPS.Adoption (at) gmail.com for more information on adopting.
And KAPS.Fostering (at) gmail.com for more information on fostering.

The Adoption and the Fostering Application Process both take about 3-5 days. Please understand that KAPS Coordinators work full time jobs as they volunteer to help the animals of Korea.

The adoption fee when adopting directly from the shelter helps KAPS animals, and is as follows:

• 50,000won for an unspayed/unneutered cat or small (under 10kg) dog
• 100,000won for a spayed/neutered cat or small dog, and for an unspayed/unneutered large (over 11kg) dog
• 150,000won for a spayed/neutered large dog

Animals in foster care will have fees that reflect the veterinary care they've been given. The fee is given to the foster parent to reimburse the animal's care so they can continue to foster and help KAPS animals. If you are concerned about the amount, please inquire so you may know what vetting the animal has received. Please understand our fosters work very hard to bring our animals to health.

Please view our "Links" and our "Files to Download" - right on this page! - for our applications and more information about KAPS and what we do.