Reputable shelters in Seoul?

[alwaysamess]

Hi! Last summer, I found my son in an alley. He's an awesome cat and he's super-energetic and social yet bored, and lonely. Playing with him for 2 hours every night just doesn't cut it for him. After careful thought and consideration, I am ready to get him a forever brother or sister. I've been looking around town for homeless cats but never managed to snag me one.

Are there any reputable shelters in Seoul that I can adopt from? I know of the one in Daegu, but I really can't get down there for a while. I refuse to buy a cat from pet shops.

Also, if you know any cats that need a good home, let me know. Tofu prefers an energetic friendly guy like he is.

Love, Christina and Tofu the TurboCat

[Karen]

Hi Christina and Tofu!

Kudos to you for not going to a pet shop. I have two ideas of where you might look for a cat, neither of them shelters though.

1) City hall
Maybe ask a Korean friend to call the city hall office of your Gu district. Here in Daejeon each Gu office has a separate animal control that hold strays for 30 days. I heard that some cities, like Siheung, hold cats until they are adopted.

2) Chung Wha Animal Hospital in Seoul http://www.cwhospital.com/
They have an English website with a bit of information about a pet adoption program. I don't know if they board cats or if they know people who do, but it might be worth calling them to ask.

I hope this helps!

Karen

[alwaysamess]

Hey, that's my vet! haha! I never knew they did that!

By the way, I highly recommend that vet. After I got Tofu neutered and all his shots, I haven't needed to go back since he's been so healthy. I took Tofu in the day after I found him for a look-see. They didn't even charge me for the exam and they cleaned him up a little. Dr. Kwon said that it was free since I took in a cat from the streets. I found their prices very reasonable and they were very helpful for advice and cool cat toys. They gave us free catnip and bags of snacks. They also thanked me for the trek from Guro that I make with a screaming cat in subways and taxis.

Anyway, I'm going to contact them first. I'll keep the forum posted on my quest for reference for future adopters.

[Karen]

Hi Christina,

That's great info. I only knew of the Chung Wha clinic from their website, but I'm glad to hear from someone who's been there that they are good. I'm looking forward to hearing about their pet adoption program.

Thanks!

[Karen]

Another couple places you may want to try for cat adoption:

1) The Korean Organization for the Protection of Cats (KOPC) http://cafe.daum.net/ttvarm

It's a Cafe Daum site, so I'm not sure if you have to register first, but it appears that there are lots of adoptable cats listed there. Perhaps you can get a Korean friend to call them for you.

2) I heard about a vet in Seoul called the "Kangnam 25 Hour Animal Clinic" (in Kangnam I guess ;) but I don't have the details of exactly where) which holds Kangnam-area strays that people bring in to them for 30 days before taking them to a shelter. I'm not sure if they have cats, though.

Here's a photo of a rescued cat in Siheung (http://www.siheung.go.kr/wizboarduser/2005siheung/animal/protect/data/000_0627.JPG). The cat is now living at the animal shelter in Siheung (Seoul subway line 1). She got a coworker to call her city hall and they came to get the cat (story here (http://www.lonelylifetime.com/helping/helping-a-stray-kitty/)). I imagine there are other cats there as well, and if it's true that they hold the animals until they are adopted, then they may actually have quite a few. I'm not sure how far Siheung is from you.

Happy searching!

[alwaysamess]

We just responded attached to the story, but it claims there is no comment. :-(

Anyways, Tofu and I want her and we think she just may be what we are looking for! We'd like to hook up with Emily. The sooner, the better because I worry that could we be too late to save her? I want to make sure the little sweetie gets out of jail.

[Karen]

Hi Christina,

I'm really happy to hear you're interested in the Siheung kitty! I've emailed Emily to let her know.

Your comment on the website is posted now. All comments there are moderated (that's why there's a delay) and the delay is partly why I got the forums started, in the hopes that people will be able to connect directly and more quickly here. Maybe soon :)

Anyway, let me know how things go!

[timvas]

Hi Christina and Karen. I recently moved to Seoul from Australia and was staying at a serviced apartment here initially. While walking to and from work I would pass by a building site daily and there were always a number of cats wandering around, some looked like street cats others were more obviously (once) domestic cats that were either lost or abandoned. I recently moved to Hannam-dong, around the corner from the Pet Toy vet. I visited the vet a few times (in preparation for my golden retriever and two cats arriving from Aust) and got to speaking to the vet (who is a very nice young guy who speaks English well) and he told me about a program that Yongsan council has in place, which is a "catch, neuter and release" program. Basically, any stray cats or dogs brought to any of the participating vets in the Yongsan council area can be neutered for free. So myself and a colleague (she has a "live trap", one of those cages with a spring-loaded step at one end which shuts the cage door once the cat steps on it) decided we would visit the building site to see if we could catch any of the cats. The first one we caught was a little tabby & white female (some of the local shopkeepers who watched us with much amusement told us she had been owned by a local resident, but then abandoned when they moved). I have called her Lucky, and it looks like she is between 3 and 5 years of age. I took her to the Pet Toy vet to get a flea and worm treatment, then kept her at my place to re-socialise her. She took a couple of days but after that she really took to me, loves attention and she sleeps on my bed. I took her back to the Pet Toy vet to be neutered only to discover that it was too late - she is pregnant and due in two or three weeks (I though she was just a bit portly...) Since then my dog (a gentle 12 yr old golden retriever) has arrived from Sydney and they are getting along ok (after some initial reservations on Lucky's part). On the basis that my own two cats will also arrive here at some point in the next few months my plan is to find homes for Lucky's kittens once they are old enough (she is having 4) and also perhaps a permanent home for Lucky if I can. If anyone is interested please let me know, you're welcome to meet her (and the kittens when they arrive). In addition, if anyone is interested in helping me catch/rescue some of the other cats at the building site let me know (if any of them are a bit on the feral side we can perhaps re-release them after neutering). Regards Tim, Lucky & Bear

[timvas]

Forgot to mention as well in relation to Christina's original question about shelters - see the KARAMA (Korean Animal Rescue and Management Association) website at www.karama.or.kr/community_7.asp. There about 60 pages of lost dogs and cats with photos (at the bottom of the website you will see page links 1-10 of 61 - the photos begin on page 2 or 3). The website is in Korean so I'm not sure what their policies are re how many days they keep the animals or subsequent adoption etc but if you have any Korean colleagues they should be able to translate easily enough. Plenty of lost and sad little ones there.

[Karen]

The (KARMA/ KARAMA) website is in Korean so I'm not sure what their policies are re how many days they keep the animals or subsequent adoption etc but if you have any Korean colleagues they should be able to translate easily enough.
My friends visited KARMA (not sure if it's KARAMA or KARMA, I see both used) and wrote about their trip and directions to the shelter here: [outdated link removed]

Also, my Korean friend called them and asked about adoption procedures (a bit is on page 3 of the above link, but you're right, it is explained in Korean on their website, somewhere). One key point was that they don't adopt animals to people who won't be keeping them permanently (that means no fostering). They normally take applications and do follow-up calls before and after adoption, so having a Korean friend conquer the language barrier is absolutely necessary. Adoption fees range from W 50,000 to 100,000 but you can be reimbursed after you have the pet spayed/neutered and your vet faxes them the receipt.

It does sound like it's hard to get to this place, and without a Korean friend to help, adoption would be tricky at best BUT when I look at those pages and pages of animal faces it's just so heartbreaking... :(

[Karen]

timvas,

I think it's SO AWESOME that you are working on a Trap Neuter Return project here in Korea! Excellent! I have so many questions about it I want to start a whole new thread. I had no idea that that sort of project was going on in Korea at all. Very good to know.

As for Lucky and her kittens, if you send me a photo I would love to post her in the adoptable animals thread on the main site, or feel free to start your own thread with her picture here in the forum. Or both! It's such a great story, too, she is very lucky to have found you.

When I found a stray kitten back in September and posted a photo of her on a few websites I got something like 12-15 offers to adopt him, all in about a week. There are so many people looking to adopt kittens you should have no trouble placing them.

[timvas]

I have uploaded a picture of Lucky as an avatar (hopefully this works). Not sure how else to send her photos to you or attach it to this post. Perhaps if you send me an e-mail I can reply with her photo attached. Maybe we could start a new thread for Lucky and her kittens? Might increase the chances of someone who is interested in the kittens or her noticing the thread. People are welcome to come visit her any time if they would like to (and the kittens of course once they are born). I'm in Hannam-dong. I will reply with a separate post re the neutering program.

[alwaysamess]

I'm sorry to say that I can't take one of your kittens because I will get the Siheung kitty in about 2 weeks hopefully. Thanks for your offer. I'll definately spread the word for you.

[Karen]

Christina, that's so great that you can adopt the Siheung kitty. Have you been able to go visit her?

Timvas, please do start a new thread with Lucky's picture and bio!

You can post an image by uploading one to an image hosting website like http://imageshack.us/ and then copy the code that starts with [URL (the capitals) and paste that code into your post.

Of course you can email me some pictures, too and Ill add Lucky to the Adoptable Animals page.

Here's an example photo insert (also to test my instructions) :)
http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/2207/present7eg0.th.jpg (http://img259.imageshack.us/my.php?image=present7eg0.jpg)

[alwaysamess]

I will soon. I'm also afriad she's not going to be there...just an insecurity. I REALLY want her because after asking Emily so many questions, I discovered that I think she's going to be a better fit than I thought. She sounds PERFECT for Tofu!!!! I really want her YESTERDAY! Tomorrow I'm going to buy an extra litter box and some new toys (though Tofu has tons, yet his favorites are hair ties and paper wads). Tofu's about to be off of kitten food, and Emily said Siheung kitty might be aprox. a year old, too. That would make them both around the same age.

Tofu's been driving me insane today with his cries for attention. He needs another friend pronto. He also took up a new hobby...dunking his toys in the toilet. I've had 1 clog already and he's fallen in 3 times this week, at which I laughed hysterically, but had to keep him locked up in the bathroom because I didn't want him running around until he got some of that water off. He's insanely bored. What a spoiled kitty.

[Karen]

:lol: Tofu sounds like a very entertaining friend. I hope the Siheung kitty doesn't like swimming in the toilet as much! My foster dog prefers paper and elastics (regular rubber ones), too! I'm not sure what's with that.

Keep us posted on the adoption process from this shelter, I really hope it is a good place for cats and easy to adopt from.