August 22, 2025
SEOUL – A pet funeral home in the southeastern city of Ulsan is suspected to have conducted unauthorized euthanasia of animals for years, a local media outlet reported Thursday, allegedly including not only sick or injured animals that could have recovered, but also healthy animals.
According to the report by broadcaster MBN, the facility is believed to have injected lethal drugs into at least 90 animals from 2020 to 2023. The head of the funeral home, who closed the business last year, is currently under police investigation for violating the Animal Protection Act.
Former employees said several animals that were not critically ill were put down, often by staff who were not licensed veterinarians. One employee of the pet funeral home told MBN that staff would pretend to take the pets to a hospital and administer the fatal drugs in a remote location.
The euthanasia was reportedly carried out with the consent of the pet owners, who turned to the funeral home either because veterinary clinics refused to perform the procedure or due to the higher cost of doing so there.
Though most of the animals were ill, some were reportedly healthy.
The Animal Protection Act states that an animal must be euthanized under proper veterinary procedures, or with justifiable reasons such as posing a danger to humans. Killing animals in cruel ways is considered animal cruelty, and is subject to up to three years in prison or a maximum fine of 30 million won ($21,453).
The report suggested that “euthanasia” at the Ulsan facility was conducted without proper anesthesia.
Several cases have emerged in which animals were put down without proper procedures. In 2024, an animal protection center in Miryang, South Gyeongsang Province, was found to have euthanized dozens of stray dogs without anesthesia, in full view of each other.
Miryang Mayor An Byeong-gu issued a public apology over the incident, vowing that the city would operate the stray dog shelter directly.
