“Penthouse” Actor Park Eun Seok Accused Of Habitually Abandoning His Pets, Responds To Accusations
SBS drama Penthouse actor Park Eun Seok has been accused of habitually abandoning his pets that he adopts, as well as only taking in purebreds from pet stores.
During his appearance on MBC‘s show I Live Alone, Park Eun Seok showed off his single life with his three month old puppy, Molly. However, along with the appearance, some netizens are bringing up his old pictures of his pets, asking him where they are now, and whether he abandoned them or not.
One netizen, who identified herself as a former classmate of Park Eun Seok’s while he was studying at Seoul Institute of The Arts, claimed Park Eun Seok would change out his pets if his girlfriend didn’t like it.
His girlfriend didn’t like [his pet at the time] so he changed it to a small beagle… When he said he was raising two cats and a three month old puppy on the show ‘I Live Alone’ while living by himself… it’s really just…
What about the little dog… I understand it may be a reward for your work, since you’ve worked hard, but I really hope you don’t pretend to love animals like a performance. I hate people who use animals to handle or maintain their image.
— Classmate “A”
Netizens who have identified themselves as Park Eun Seok’s fans since he started acting in musicals have also raised their suspicions. One fan stated how many of the pets he has raised and shown off on social media are no longer with him, raising the issue of abandonment, re-homing, and a lack of commitment and love.
I don’t know where the two cats that lived with him in the half-basement home went. In 2016, he raised a toy poodle named Rosie, and in 2011, he was raising a Shar Pei named Isabelle. He also had a large dog named Daisy. He even had a hedgehog at one point.
It’s scary that he would repeatedly only raise each pet for a year or two.
— Fan “B”
Alongside the accusations, several netizens went back through Park Eun Seok’s past social media posts, showing his different pets throughout the years, including the aforementioned Daisy, 2 cats in the half-basement room, and the toy poodle.
Netizens continued, stating that the average lifespan of a traditional pet is around 15 years, and while it is possible for pets to leave their owner’s side early due to illnesses or accidents, the sheer number of pets Park Eun Seok has gone through trying to raise alone, is simply too much and irresponsible. The additional fact that he was raising only purebreds from breeders is also raising questions.
In addition, another netizen who attempted to adopt a pet from Park Eun Seok shared how he did not properly take care of his pets. The netizen recalled how he failed to take them to a vet.
Before he became famous, I tried to adopt a cat from him, but I gave up on the adoption because the cat was not properly vaccinated. He wasn’t very interested in the pet itself and had a cold attitude. It’s a shame I couldn’t feel that air of kindness people have when dealing with animals.
You said that you were busy while you weren’t well-known. You’d be busier now, but now you have 2 cats and a dog. I hope you take care of them up until the end.
— Netizen “C”
After these reports came out, Park Eun Seok’s agency HUNUS Entertainment came out to quickly deny them.
After checking the contents, they are not true at all.
His acquaintances are raising the pets now.
— HUNUS Entertainment
Netizens aren’t accepting HUNUS Entertainment’s statement, however. They pointed out how rehoming the pets is the same as abandoning them.
- “If you decide not to keep your pet and rehome it, that’s still abandoning your pet. Just because you don’t throw it out into the street doesn’t mean it’s not abandoning it.”
- “It seems odd that he keeps rehoming his pets to his friends. Does he only keep them when they are small and cute and young? The response seems very irresponsible, these are actual lives.”
- “If he gave them all to his friends, I want them to prove they have them.”
- “Pets aren’t dolls that you buy and throw away when they get too old.”
- “He should know better to not get more pets if he can’t take care of his older one.”
Park Eun Seok has since released a post on his official fan cafe, apologizing for the worry he has caused, and denying any knowledge of the netizens who claimed to know him.
There are a lot of instances where during busy schedules, controversies like this break out because they think it’s the right time to attack people, right? I’m still quite shocked that something like this has happened to me.
First off, I would like to apologize to my fans for causing concern through this situation. My pets are doing fine and an official statement will be released later today to clear up any confusion. I am also quite flustered at the fact that my friend (?), whom I don’t know the name of, has released false statements about me, and that I have to clarify all of this.
In conclusion, an official statement will be released because many people were worried. Thank you always for your support and interest. You will have a great day today~^^
— Park Eun Seok
His agency has also released a much longer, more detailed statement, denying the report once again, explaining the circumstances, and promising legal action against those who continue to spread slander.
Hello, this is HUNUS Entertainment. We are here to deliver our official stance regarding Park Eun Seok’s pets.
First of all, thank you for your great interest and love you have sent to Park Eun Seok. We apologize for causing concern with the current situation.
However, after confirming the details, we would like to clarify the details about the current situation as it has been distorted, and the accusations related to his pets are not true at all.
The first poodle was Park Eun Seok’s pet when he first arrived in Korea and lived with his grandmother at her house, where they raised it together.
Since then, he has become independent and because he lived alone, he took in a large Old English Sheepdog and two cats. At the same time, he started living in the company provided dorms due to his difficult situation, and he was unable to raise his pets due to the dorm life.
As a result, he was heartbroken for the Old English Sheepdog as he was unable to do anything for it and wished for a better situation. But after careful consideration, he found [an owner] with a large backyard and left the dog with them. The cats faced a similar situation. At the time, an acquaintance who knew of Park Eun Seok’s situation asked to raise the cats, and he sent the cats to them. Even today, he is checking in on the cats to see that they are raised well.
After that situation, Park Eun Seok left the company’s dorms and moved into his half-basement apartment. At that time, because his grandmother was older, Park Eun Seok was in charge of taking care of the poodle mentioned earlier. However, the half basement was an environment where the poodle could not be raised for a long time, so the poodle was sent to a female relative and is still in good care.
Park Eun Seok is an actor who loves animals more than anyone else. He knows he has to take responsibility to the end with his pets, but he is sorry that he was unable to keep his pets due to the unavoidable circumstances and situations. He still interacts with his acquaintances and relatives who are taking care of his older pets.
Once again, we apologize for this, and Park Eun Seok has said that he will make his best efforts to prevent such a situation from happening in the future, using this previous incident as his cornerstone.
Finally, the allegations of Park Eun Seok obtaining his pets from a pet shop and the articles related to his beagle are not true at all. The pets he raised were adopted through acquaintances and family members, and it is a pity that there are posts distorting the truth.
We would like to inform everyone that we will take legal action in the future against false posts and slander.
We will always listen to the feedback you provide on our actors and we will continue to do our best in promoting acting with humility. Thank you.
— HUNUS Entertainment
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