Cats killed most often on Seoul roads

By Lee Kyung-min

Motor vehicles kill an average of 10 animals a day in Seoul, according to a study released Monday.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) study shows that more than 11,869 animals died that way from 2012- 2014.

A total of 9,668 cats were killed, accounting for 81 percent of the dead animals, followed by dogs (12 percent), birds and other creatures (7 percent).

Of the city’s 25 districts, Gangnam-gu reported the most animal deaths (15 cases daily), followed by 12 cases per day in Guro, Geumcheon, Nowon and Seongdong.

An SMG official said city officials were aware of the problem.

“Most of the cats killed are believed to be stray animals,” the official said.

“Under the law, we have taken measures to trap, spay and neuter, and release them to reduce the number of stray cats.”

She said the program, called “trap-and-return” (TNR), was being widely implemented in other developed countries.

More than 6,000 cats are spayed or neutered each year.

The official said spaying or neutering the cats was preferable to them being killed on the road.

“Some say the procedure might violate animal rights, but others say having the animal breed indiscriminately is a more serious problem. We maintain that stance,” she said.

The number of stray cats is falling.

“Five years ago, there were about 18,000 stray cats in the city, but this has decreased almost by half,” the official said.

National Institute of Biological Resources official Han Sang-hoon said designing a more animal-friendly city might be one way to deal with the problem.

“In cases of road kills involving big animals, setting up fences blocking the animals from crossing the street is one way to prevent the problem,” he said.

“However, in the case of cats, the city’s measure is not the best choice, but no other option seems to be available.”