4 Korean dramas under fire for animal abuse: The “dog fight” scene in Lee Jun Ki’s hit drama is the most serious

Even when the producers spoke up to explain, the viewers are still strongly against the following K-drama scenes due to the alleged animal abuse.

Many Korean dramas have been accused of animal cruelty and faced fierce criticism from the public. There was a serious case to the point that the police had to be involved.

1. Coffee House

Since the broadcast of the first episodes, Coffee House was under fire for the scene where the female lead “dressed up” for a cat. Specifically, because she was assigned to find a feral cat but failed, the female lead dipped another cat in the mud to cover it with dirt, shaved, and ruffled it. This caused the viewers to be extremely indignant, especially when the drama even included a close-up of the cat’s terrified expression.

2. Bad Guy

Bad Guy – Shin Gun Wook’s drama has a haunting scene: a puppy follows its owner on the rainy night and is, unfortunately, run over. The viewers felt heartbroken watching this and found the shot of the puppy covered in blood, lying in the middle of the road in heavy rain too triggering. Many viewers also questioned whether the puppy was really safe while shooting this scene.

3. Iljimae

The scene of staging a “dog battle” in Lee Jun Ki‘s legendary film Iljimae used to enrage viewers. The animal rights organization sued the film for mistreating animals and airing scenes of animal violence. After that, the film team had to meet with the police to explain the situation. The producer explained that: “During the filming, we put plastic pads on the dogs’ teeth to protect them. Their owners were always present at the scene, both dogs were not injured at all. If you say this is animal abuse, isn’t it a bit serious?” However, the audience was still extremely angry.

4. Modern Farmer

In the second episode of “Modern Farmer” staring Lee Hong Ki, a scene wherein a spotted deer die was shown. At times when animals are used in filming, many people wonder whether the animals undergo any mistreatment. SBS then was quick to make a statement regarding the use of the animals in the show. “The filming was carried out after the spotted deer had anesthesia which was performed under the supervision of an expert. (The deer) was only under anesthesia for a while during the filming and the deer is currently living healthily,” explained SBS, emphasizing that no animal abuse took place during the filming of “Modern Farmer.”