Lawmakers seek to ban animal abusers from owning pets

Lawmakers are moving to close a loophole that fails to stop animal abusers from keeping or adopting new pets even after serious cruelty cases.

Under proposed amendments to the Animal Protection Act, submitted recently by Rep.

Han Zee-a and nine other legislators of the main opposition People Power Party, animal abusers would be restricted from keeping their animals or adopting new ones for a certain period.

“Under the current law, there are provisions to punish those who abuse animals.

However, institutional measures to restrict abusers from keeping animals again are not sufficient, and concerns about repeated abuse have been raised,” the lawmakers said in the proposal.

Under the bill, courts would be given authority to impose an animal keeping ban when sentencing abusers, preventing them from owning or adopting pets for a set period.

Animal rights activists have long called for Korea to follow other countries such as Germany and Britain in barring abusers from owning or keeping animals, not just punishing cruelty.

The bill also calls for strengthening protections for animals before a ...