On April 23, 2012, a female bear was shot by police with professional hunters after it had escaped from an illegal bear farm in Yongin, Kyonggi-do. The bear had attacked some hikers.

The illegal bear farm it came from has 105 moon bears and has been operating since March, 2003.

Bears there are in 40 cages -- two or sometimes three in cages size 2 meters by 4 meters. The farm has no fences around to secure the bears if they escape and so they can run off into the mountains.

The farm has no drainage facilities and it is an environmental hazard.

There are 20 plus residential houses in the area with residents who live in fear of bears escaping and attacking them.

The bear that escaped was found to have a tube inserted into her neck, indicating a possible illegal practice of taking bodily fluids.

Typically the government responds to bear problems by simply killing the bears. What is also appalling is that it appears no one is monitoring bear farming properly or enforcing regulations. It appears to be as lawless as the dog trade.

It remains to be seen what kind of prosecutions will result from this.

What has been described as the largest dog-fighting ring bust in history has saved 300 pit bulls from a life of violence.

The bust was in the Philippines and comes after an earlier one there in December, 2011, when 240 dogs were rescued. In that one, some Koreans were arrested.

Sadly, in this latest bust, the Koreans arrest were the same ones from the earlier bust, part of the same Korean syndicate. After they'd posted bail for the December bust, they had gone right back to running more dog fights!

The Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) helped police with the bust.

Many of the dogs suffered from fight injuries and were kept in terrible conditions. Twenty had to be euthanized.

Hopefully the Korean scum involved in this will get some jail time.

Source: ABC News

Update: Washtington Post

Rescurers are now saying many of the 300 dogs might have to be put down because of their medical conditions and physical state. The resources for care aren't available and it's unlikely all dogs will be adopted.

Even in ordinary situations dogs are put down at shelters. You can't blame these rescuers. Irresponsible and callous people are the ones that create the conditions of homeless for animals in the first place and they are the ones that deserve all the blame.

The rescuers also noted that dogs rescued from the December raid had been resold back to the dog fighting ring. That makes yet another betrayal by despicable people.

Moran Market, outside of Seoul in Seongnam-city (Gyeonggido-province), is Korea's largest 5 day outdoor market. But new development is slated for the market area and that means vendors have to move before the year is out.

From one point of view, that is the good news because Moran Market is were 1000s of dogs meet their deaths for dog meat.

However, merchants who have been conducting business at the market for close to 50 years are having hard time finding somewhere to relocate. And there is a risk the market could disappear altogether.

Seongnam-city's Moran market has been opening for business every 5 days without fail. Established in 1964, it has become the largest market of its kind in the country, with 130,000 people converging there from all over Korea to buy and sell.

Moran Market Merchant Association President has this to say: "The market is facing more difficulties day by day and it is not protected as a "Traditional Market," so it is need of help..."

According to the current law, 5 day markets are exempt from the "Traditional Market" designation. The fact that Moran Market is temporarily opening on a paved road also prevents it being designated as a "Traditional Market."

What all this means is that there is no compensation for the loss of land.

The LH Construction that is in charge of the "Bogumzari" Housing project that will be built on market land is trying to palm off the market's relocation issues to the government.

A spokesperson for LH Construction said, "Seongname-city is supposed to purchase land and relocate the market there. We are not involved with that issue."

Seongnam-city is reviewing the Moran Market relocation issue but the relocation cost is expected to be around one hundred billion won (USD $90million).

In other words, it's a hot potato and no one particularly wants to pay for it. Because of the huge cost, Moran Market, which has been in existence for half the century, is in the danger of disappearing.

Hopefully that means good riddance to the dog and other animal killers and sellers. But it is a pity for the vegetable vendors.

According to AsiaOne News Seoul's Grand Park zoo has suspended a dolphin show over claims that one of the dolphins was captured illegally.

Seoul's mayor, Park Won-Soon said the zoo would suspend its daily show, featuring three bottlenose dolphins.

Animal rights activists claim that one of the dolphins called "Jedol" was illegally captured last July by fishermen off the southern resort island of Jeju. They are calling for its release.

South Korean law bans the unauthorized seizure of dolphins and whales.

Mayor Park has also said, "I believe Jedol must be allowed to swim freely."

The zoo has said that the 13-year-old Jedol will be set free in March 2014 after gradual adjustment training.

The two dolphins will be kept in captivity because they are old and weak.

Zoo officials said they may permanently cancel the show once they have gathered the opinions of experts, activists and citizens.

This looks to be heading in the right direction, but a shame it comes too late the other two dolphins, who will likely die in captivity after years of separation from their families.

Update April 4, 2012

The court hearing over this case was held on the April 4.

The judge said that all the bottle nose dolphins that were caught will be confiscated from whomever has been keeping them in captivity.

Other news is that two people who were involved in the capture and selling of the dolphins be jailed for 8 months and ordered to complete 120 hours of community volunteering work.

The reasons given for their sentence were the following:

1. The number of dolphins caught was large.

2. They profited through the capture of dolphins from the wild.

3. Bottle nose dolphins are an endangered species.

However, we have no details about the release of these poor creatures back into the ocean.

But not so fast. Korea's Budget Committee of the National Assembly has voted to prepare to end bear farming in Korea. That means an investigation will be conducted into the current status of bear farming to work out what to do next.

The government has allotted a budget of 200 Million Korean Won ($175,000 USD) for the investigation, which is going to take some time to complete. In other words, it might take years until bear farming actually ends.

There is also the issue of what to do with existing bears, all born into captivity. Will they be euthanized or slaughtered for their bile? Usually bears are kept until they are 10 years old then they are killed for their bile.

Unlike China, the extraction of bile from live bears is illegal in Korea, but of course this has taken place and has been exposed on TV. Also, there have been cases where bears were slaughtered for their meat, which was sold at restaurants.

It remains to be seen, then, when we will see an end to Korean bear farming. The other side of this is the need to end in the trafficking of bear products, including an end to Korean tourists visiting places like Vietnam to obtain bear bile.

Source: http://www.wspa-usa.org/latestnews/2012/victory-korea-ends-bear-farming.aspx

In the Korean port city of Busan, some 450 kilometres south of Seoul, a 24-year-old woman has committed suicide out of despair after the death of her pet dog.

The woman was found at her residence in Busan, embracing her dead dog, near burned briquettes. Burning charcoal briquettes, which emit poisonous gases, is a common method of suicide in Korea.

Police found a suicide note that said "I want to stay with my dog. Please bury us together."

The woman had been with the dog for several years. She lived on her own after leaving her parents, who did not want to raise the dog, since it was old and had kidney problems.

Source: http://www.nst.com.my/latest/s-korean-commits-suicide-over-death-of-dog-1.46379