An official from the Seodaemun District Office in Seoul looks after a dog temporarily left by its owner at the office's pet care center in the district, Monday. Yonhap

Those wishing to adopt pets are required to complete an educational program as part of the government's new five-year animal welfare drive, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said Thursday.

The government unveiled its third Animal Welfare Plan for 2025-29, following the introduction of its previous version a decade ago.

This comes as the country encourages individuals in the dog meat trading industry to cease operations ahead of an official ban set to take effect in February 2027.

By making the education program mandatory, the government aims to ensure that people interested in adopting dogs or cats have a sense of responsibility.

Animal welfare education will also become part of the curricula of elementary and middle schools this year, with a plan to extend it to high schools next year.

The government will also increase the number of education agencies that dispatch instructors to meet nationwide demand, raising the total from 62 last year to 65 this year.

Enforcing mandatory lessons about animal welfare before adopting pets is already in practice in Germany, France and Switzerland, according to the ministry. Educational programs in these countries allow people to find out whether they are prepared or qualified for pet adoption.

"Those countries with advanced animal welfare policies require people to even take a test before adopting a pet," an official from the Animal Welfare Policy Division at the ministry said.

The latest animal welfare plan's key policies also include the registration of all dogs in a government database with identification numbers via injection, noninjection or by storing their unique bio patterns on their nose. Authorities said it will start introducing the mandatory regulation in more regions.

Authorities will also further boost safer pet adoption by starting to manage identification numbers of parent dogs and their offspring, and transparently share the information and other details with those adopting a dog.

The government, in accordance with the country's Animal Protection Act, will launch Animal Protection Day this year on the same day as World Animal Day on Oct. 4. The ministry is set to host an event to mark the ceremonial day, inviting local governments, private organizations and private companies to celebrate and raise public awareness of animal welfare.

"We have designed the latest animal welfare plan based on our past policies and have further strengthened them so that they can be proven effective in practice promptly," Park Jeong-hoon, an official from the ministry's animal policy bureau, said.