Animal shelter chief fined for pocketing adoption subsidies

A golden retriever rests during the Crufts dog show in Birmingham, Britain on March 8, 2025, in this photo unrelated to the story. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

A court fined the head of an animal protection group 4 million won ($2,700) for pretending to adopt stray animals to receive government subsidies.

The Suwon District Court on Wednesday fined the defendant for violating the Subsidy Management Act, according to legal sources on Friday.

The prosecutors indicted the defendant last September for allegedly falsely claiming to have adopted stray animals as pets in order to receive adoption support funds when the animals were actually adopted by other people.

The adoption support program, overseen by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, offers up to 250,000 won per case to individuals who adopt stray animals for personal companionship and register them with the state animal protection system.

“The defendant did adopt stray animals, with no intention of personally raising them but instead to find them new owners,” the court stated.

“As a result, the defendant did not qualify as someone who adopted stray animals for companionship purposes, which is a requirement for receiving the subsidy. Evidence presented during the trial also suggests the defendant was at least aware of the possibility that they were not eligible to claim the adoption support payments.”

An abandoned dog stares into the distance, in this photo unrelated to the story. [KIM SEONG-RYONG]

The Subsidy Management Act states that obtaining subsidies through false claims or other fraudulent means is punishable by up to 10 years in prison or a fine of up to 100 million won.

“The defendant’s actions harmed the public interest by depriving other eligible recipients of the opportunity to receive subsidies and also undermined the effectiveness of a government policy program,” the court added. “However, the court took into consideration that the defendant had no prior criminal record and committed the offense while attempting to rescue stray animals and prevent euthanasia.”

The defendant appealed the ruling.

An official at Gongju City Hall stated that the local government "plans to recover the subsidy payments in the near future."

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.