There are many people currently raising animals in Korea. Ministry data in 2015 showed that 4.57 million families in South Korea, or 10 million individuals, live with pets. The animals are valuable and are often treated like family. These days, lots of accidents happen to and around animals. An example of such a shocking accident happen recently in Seoul.

 One person went to travel so she leaves her dog, a Maltese Poodle named 별, at a veterinary clinic to ensure its care and safety. When she came back and went to the veterinary clinic to fetch her dog the director of the clinic gave her a different dog. She told the director that this was not her dog but the director says “I open the door and the dog went out”. She tried hard to find her dog but she couldn’t because the director lied to her.

 The fact was director confuse 별 with another dog that needed to be euthanasia. The veterinary clinic euthanasia 별 and cremate it. The veterinary clinic sent an apology message later. The owner of the dog says she can’t accept their apology. She posted about this accident in the SNS. Afterwards, the owner went to an emergency room because of the shock of her loss. The owner is preparing to pursue a lawsuit. Netizens, citizens of the internet, are angry about this accident, they say “It is crime”, and that “Animal protection laws need to be reinforcement.”

   Now the dog can’t see its owner and the owner can’t see the dog. Animal companions go on increasing and the pet economy is growing. An example of this is animal hospitals. The number of animal hospitals reached 4,000 last year, with about half of them equipped with pet adoption services. It is not just good enough to get lots of money. These institutions can cause big hurt to people. We should not forget this accident. Other accidents can happen to our animal companions; we should make a preparation plan and minimize harmful damage.