A Plea for Compassion: Ask Honolulu to Condemn the Cruelty of Dogs Burning Alive in Seoul!

The Issue

Find more ways to help: https://koreandogs.org/a-plea-for-compassion-seoul-honolulu/

A Plea for Compassion: Protect Chained Dogs from Burning Alive in South Korean Wildfires (Sister City: Seoul & Honolulu, Hawaii)

Despite the 2023 revision of South Korea’s Animal Protection Act—which set a two-meter minimum tether length—lifelong tethering remains legal, widespread, and profoundly inhumane. A two-meter chain offers no real freedom or dignity. Across the country, dogs endure short chains, filth, harsh weather, and utter neglect. Treated as tools or property, their suffering is normalized, hidden, and ignored.

The devastating wildfires of March 2025 once again exposed the full horror of this systemic neglect. Countless dogs, permanently chained or caged, were abandoned during evacuations—left to burn alive in agony. This was not just a failure of disaster response—it was a moral and ethical failure of society as a whole.

In response, South Korea’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) issued the “Manual for the Rescue and Protection of Companion Animals During Natural Disasters” in May 2025. We recognize and commend this step as an important milestone: the manual acknowledges companion animals as family members, outlines roles for government agencies, and promotes local emergency planning and public awareness. However, the manual is non-binding. It does not mandate the evacuation of animals, nor does it address or prohibit the practice of lifelong tethering.

As KoreanDogs.org and many allied organizations have emphasized, true protection requires more than suggestions. Real change requires legally enforceable action and accountability.

We therefore call on the South Korean government to enact urgent and meaningful reforms:
• Ban lifelong tethering nationwide. This cruel and outdated practice causes ongoing physical and psychological suffering and must end.
• Mandate companion animal evacuation by law during all declared emergencies. No animal should ever be left behind to burn, drown, starve, or freeze.
• Prosecute abandonment and cruelty with severe, consistent penalties, especially during disasters when the consequences are often fatal.
• Require local governments to develop and implement enforceable animal disaster plans, with oversight and accountability.

We also urge Sister and Friendship Cities around the world to take a principled stand. These partnerships must not overlook the suffering and destruction caused by inadequate animal protection laws in South Korea. We ask global partners to raise their voices: urge your counterparts in South Korea to legislate lasting reforms, including a ban on tethering and mandatory evacuation protocols for all companion animals.

This is a pivotal moment. The world is watching. South Korea can choose compassion and leadership, or remain complicit in avoidable cruelty.
Let us demand change—together.

Charles, a dog who miraculously escaped a wildfire after being severely burned across his entire body, including inside his mouth, is now receiving intensive care and showing remarkable resilience despite his horrific injuries. Tragically, Charles witnessed his friend, tied next to him, burn to death. https://koreandogs.org/charles/

Video: Bbibbi, a young puppy barely a year old, was found clinging to life—scorched by flames, her mouth burned shut, and her eyes lost—after being left chained to a piece of metal farm equipment as a wildfire tore through her village in South Korea. Her owner had days to intervene but abandoned her to burn alive. Bbibbi’s suffering is more than a personal tragedy—it reveals a profound crisis of empathy, where far too many still view dogs not as sentient beings but as property, tools, or disposable burdens. This callous mindset is sustained by weak animal protection laws that allow lifelong tethering and fail to recognize animals as lives worth defending. https://koreandogs.org/bbibbi/ https://youtu.be/7vZE_P_wGho

PETITION:

Urgent International Appeal: End Tethering and Prevent Wildfire Tragedies in Seoul, South Korea

Dear Mayor Rick Blangiardi and Esteemed Representatives of Honolulu,

I write to you with a heavy heart and an urgent plea for compassion. In Seoul, South Korea—your Sister City—dogs continue to suffer and die in ways that shock the conscience.

Despite South Korea’s recent Manual for the Rescue and Protection of Companion Animals During Natural Disasters (May 2025), there are still no laws that truly protect these innocent lives. The manual is purely advisory, with no legal force to ensure animals are rescued in emergencies. Even worse, the barbaric practice of lifelong tethering remains completely legal, condemning countless dogs to a life of loneliness, filth, and chains barely long enough to turn around.

Time and again, wildfires sweep through these regions, leaving terrified, tethered dogs to face the flames alone. They are burned alive, forgotten, voiceless, and treated as disposable property. This is a moral catastrophe that demands action.

As leaders of Seoul’s Sister City, you have a unique power—and responsibility—to speak out. I implore you to:

1. Publicly denounce the cruelty of lifelong tethering and the abandonment of animals during disasters. Silence allows this suffering to continue.

2. Reach out directly to your counterparts in Seoul. Share your deep concern and urge them to enact binding laws that end tethering and guarantee companion animals are evacuated alongside their families.

3. Support critical national reforms in South Korea, including:

A complete, enforceable ban on lifelong tethering.
Mandatory evacuation protocols for companion animals.
Real penalties for abandonment and neglect, especially during emergencies.
Public campaigns that teach empathy and responsible care.

4. Offer Honolulu’s partnership and resources, whether through expertise in humane disaster planning or joint initiatives that show what true sisterhood between cities can mean.

Please, take a moment to see the faces behind this tragedy (warning: deeply disturbing content):

Change is possible. South Korea has opened the door—but only strong, enforceable laws will put an end to this horror. As Seoul’s Sister City, Honolulu’s voice carries immense weight. Please use it to stand up for those who cannot beg for help themselves.

A global petition is growing: https://chng.it/SVJxhX5v2y Let this be the moment when international friendship saves lives—not just human lives, but countless loyal, loving animals who depend entirely on our mercy.

With deep respect, urgency, and hope for your leadership,

The barbaric practice of lifelong tethering, often with chains under three feet, condemns countless animals to chronic suffering and leaves them defenseless during disasters. In South Korea, repeated wildfires have tragically resulted in the horrific, agonizing immolation of tethered dogs, burned alive and unable to escape the flames. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/hotkDKh8Ii8

KoreanDogs.org TeamPetition StarterKoreanDogs.org

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