This is the first installment in a series of articles that look at South Korea’s pet culture and industry. –Ed.



Stay-at-home mother Cho Young-ai has endured painful treatments to fight cancer for the past three years, but luckily two companion animals have given her a great deal of emotional support and strength to survive.



“When I was ill and isolated in a rural area, I felt relieved to see my dogs wagging their tails as if everything was going to be just fine,” the 51-year-old told The Korea Herald. “The dogs were a part of the reason I forced myself to get well. Who could take care of these little ones when I am gone?”

Stay-at-home mother Cho Young-ai has endured painful treatments to fight cancer for the past three years, but luckily two companion animals have given her a great deal of emotional support and strength to survive.“When I was ill and isolated in a rural area, I felt relieved to see my dogs wagging their tails as if everything was going to be just fine,” the 51-year-old told The Korea Herald. “The dogs were a part of the reason I forced myself to get well. Who could take care of these little ones when I am gone?”

(Yonhap)

“They are my family. I play with them and scold them, but at the end of the day, they make me smile and enrich my life,” said Cho, who recently adopted an abandoned dog in her neighborhood in Wonju, Gangwon Province.



She said the dogs do not only serve as a source of comfort to her. They have helped unite her family, as the kids gather in the living room to play with them.

Cho is one of a growing number of avid animal lovers in Korea who recognize pets as an important part of their lives and advocate broader rights for animals.



The government estimates that about 10 million people in the country raise some 4 million pets. Exact figures are not available.



According to a survey on 2,096 households by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, 21.8 percent of households were living with pets as of 2015, a 25 percent increase from 2010.



Awareness of animal rights was noticeable among the surveyed households, with 92.9 percent of them supporting stricter punishment for animal abuse.



Citizens and their pets look at pet items at the K-Pet Fair 2016 held at Seoul’s SETEC from April 1-3. The next round of exhibition is slated to take place in Busan from April 30-May 1. (Yonhap)

Cho Hee-kyung, head of the Korean Animal Welfare Association, noted that the country has come a long way in raising public awareness of animal rights and expanding animal welfare.



“The animal advocacy movement began around 1999, with animal rights groups addressing the issue of abandoned animals and dog meat trade,” Cho told The Korea Herald. “Many people started to sympathize with animals and refrained from viewing them as products.”



“There are still owners irresponsibly raising pets, but now society has built a norm that people raise pets only when they can responsibly take care of them.”



Several amendments made to the Animal Protection Act, which took effect in 1991, are a reminder of the maturing animal rights movement.





(The Korea Herald)