Citizens rally to secure legal protections for retired service animals

A growing civic coalition is pushing to change the reality facing military dogs, police dogs, search-and-rescue dogs and other service animals left without legal protection after completing their duties for the state.

The Institute for Sustainable Development Machimp — a nonprofit led by Lee Young, a former minister of SMEs and Startups — officially launched a public legislative petition drive Friday to secure legal guarantees for the post-retirement care of national service animals.

Machimp opened a dedicated petition website called "Hero Dog" on Monday and began collecting online signatures. Since the site went live, inquiries about participation have poured in from religious organizations, professional associations, animal protection groups and individual citizens. The nonprofit plans to expand the signature drive nationwide through the member networks of its partner organizations.

According to Machimp, about 1,500 service dogs are currently active in South Korea, and more than 150 retire from duty each year. As of 2024, however, only about 22 percent are adopted into new homes, while the remaining 78 percent spend the rest of their lives at their assigned agencies, unable to find adoptive families.

Despite having served in bomb detection, missing-person searches and disaster rescue operations, these animals have no legal basis for medical cost support or post-retirement care — a gap widely cited as the root cause of low adoption rates. The government does not even systematically track where individual dogs live out their remaining years.

To change this, Machimp has also begun signing MOUs with partner organizations.

Machimp signed its first MOU with the Korea JC Special Friendship Association on Tuesday, followed by a second agreement with the Central Lay Buddhist Council of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism on Wednesday.

Under the two agreements, the partner organizations committed to jointly promoting the legislative petition and encouraging signatures, running a campaign to find adoptive homes for retired service dogs, raising funds to cover medical costs for adopted service dogs, and cooperating on all related activities until the legislation passes.

Machimp plans to sign additional MOUs with the Korea AI and Software Industry Association and the Central Council of the Righteous Living Movement, among others, to spread the petition drive and adoption campaign nationwide. Several other professional and civic groups have also expressed interest in joining, and the number of partner organizations is expected to grow.

"The reality that service dogs who have worked their entire lives for the country fall into a care blind spot simply because their mission is over is an important measure of how our society remembers and takes responsibility for lives devoted to it," Lee Young, chair of Machimp, said. "We will make sure this clears the National Assembly before the end of this year."

Machimp has been building public awareness around the issue since last year, when it organized a National Assembly policy forum and a service animal photo exhibition following the introduction of a related bill amendment in August. This year, the group plans to concentrate its legislative push through the public petition drive and a National Assembly forum in September.

Machimp is a nonprofit incorporated association under the Office for Government Policy Coordination and a public-interest corporation designated by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, conducting civic activities centered on respect for life and support for the socially vulnerable. In May, it launched an initiative to protect the health rights of youth aging out of the foster care system and expand preventive medical support for them.