Gandong-gu district office on Friday said it would install pet bowls near its 18 community service centers for feral cats. It is the first time for a local administration to implement such a measure.

According to the district office, installing pet bowls and providing regular meals for street cats would be beneficial for the community as it discourages them from tearing garbage bags out of hunger. The office also expects the plan to help raise the awareness of animal welfare rights.

“This project is a momentum that will highlight the need to enact an animal protection ordinance,” said Gangdong-gu Office Chief Lee Hae-sik. “I look forward to seeing an animal-loving culture taking a firm root in people.”

The idea of installing the cat bowls came from a popular online cartoonist Kangfull. Being a cat lover himself, the artist-writer who currently resides in Gangdong-gu has been emphasizing the merits of providing regular meals to street cats and donated six tons of cat food to the district office.

It is estimated that 1,500 feral cats are wandering around the streets in Gangdong-gu. The meal plan will be run for a year on a trial base.



By Park Sui, Intern reporter
(suipark@heraldcorp.com)