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By Kim Se-jeong
The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG)'s policy of reducing street cat numbers through neutering is in limbo due to a lack of funds, and the excessive complaints from "cat moms" that keep veterinarians away.
Almost 250,000 cats are believed to roam the city. They are caught and sent to clinics for neutering before being returned to where they came from. The Trap Neuter Release (TNR) program was launched in 2008 and 25 district governments are responsible for its implementation.
The governments say they have difficulty finding veterinarians. Ganbuk district has not found a vet to work with this year.
Vets say they are not paid enough to do the job. They receive between 100,000 and 150,000 won per street cat. For pet cats, vets can charge 600,000 won.
"It's not attractive, especially if your clinic is popular and busy," said Yu Ju-yun, who runs street cat shelter Nabiya in Seoul. She works closely with vets in the city.
Vets say they need at least 300,000 won a cat to help out in the city project. The city refuses to accept the demand because of a tight budget. This year, the city allocated 530 million won for the TNR program, not enough to cover 6,000 street cats, which is SMG's goal.
An official handling the issue said the real problem was so called "cat moms".
"They are the ones who feed the street cats. For cat moms, cats are more than just abandoned animals," the official, surnamed Bae, said. "Some cat moms spend the whole night walking around the neighborhood feeding them. Then what happens? The cat moms cultivate a bond with these cats. And they go crazy about them."
Bae said she often received calls from cat moms and their behavior scares off vets.
"One clinic called me and said it would stop receiving street cats for TNR because of mounting complaints from cat moms," she said.
At another clinic, three employees quit after being tired of complaints from cat moms and the vet eventually stopped helping the city.
Bae said cat moms needed education. "They should learn feeding them is not the solution to anything," she said.
