Animal protection group head on trial for falsifying adoptions to claim government 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]

 
The head of an animal protection group has been put on trial for pretending to adopt stray animals to claim government subsidies.
 
The Seongnam branch of the Suwon District Court held the first hearing for the defendant, head of an animal protection group, on Dec. 15, 2025, according to legal sources on Friday. The individual is charged with violating the Subsidy Management Act.
 

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The defendant falsely claimed to have adopted stray animals as pets in order to receive adoption support funds when the animals were actually adopted by other people, according to the indictment.
 
The adoption support program, overseen by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, offers up to 250,000 won ($172) per case to individuals who adopt stray animals for personal companionship and register them with the state animal protection system.
 
The fraudulent activity began five years ago. The defendant submitted documents to the livestock department of Gongju City Hall on April 14, 2021, and claimed expenses for adopting a retriever named Lucky, according to prosecutors.
 
The documents included an adoption confirmation, veterinary receipts, a copy of the animal’s registration and bank details.
 

Song Mi-ryung, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, speaks at a policy briefing at the government complex in Sejong on Jan. 12. [YONHAP]

 
However, Lucky had already been adopted by another individual on April 1 that year, and that person had covered the animal’s medical expenses.
 
Prosecutors believe the defendant repeated this process 13 times over a three-month period from April 19 to July 5, 2021 and fraudulently received about 2.7 million won in total from local governments, including Gongju.
 
The group the defendant leads is active in Gongju, Sejong and surrounding areas.
 
Prosecutors say the defendant exploited the lack of verification by local governments as to whether the applicant was actually caring for the animal. One local government official acknowledged that without site visits, it is difficult to detect fraud unless the submitted documents are obviously forged.
 
Under Article 40 of the Subsidy Management Act, 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.
 

A dog is seen with its owner at a street in Yongsan District, central Seoul on Aug. 8, 2025. [YONHAP]

 
The animal group itself has denied wrongdoing, reportedly claiming the funds were not used for personal gain but for operating expenses related to animal rescue work.
 
“We do not plan on conducting a separate investigation and will await the court’s decision,” said an official at Gongju City Hall.
 
A similar case took place last May in Busan, where a resident used the names of seven acquaintances to adopt 13 dogs and claimed 3.25 million won in subsidies from the Busanjin District Office.
 

A dog is seen during a demonstration of pet products at a pet fair held in Suwon, Gyeonggi on July 4, 2025. [NEWS1]

 
The individual said they “acted out of sympathy” for the animals, but the office rescinded the subsidies and filed a police report in February last year. Police later referred the case to prosecutors.
 
As cases of exploiting adoption subsidies continue, concerns are growing that such abuse undermines the system and could lead to a rise in fraudulent adoptions or abandonments.
 
“A thorough investigation and safeguards are needed to ensure the system for protecting stray animals and responsible adopters is not misused,” said lawyer Han Ju-hyeon of Lawyers for Animal Rights. “Repeated abuse could result in animals being abandoned again.”


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.
BY KIM JEONG-JAE, JUN YUL [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]