Have you ever been to a restaurant or cafe where pets can enter? Even if you haven’t, more restaurants are expected to be allowed to enter with pets in the future, so you will be able to see it quite often. Originally, it was a violation of the Food Sanitation Law to allow pets to enter the dining area of a restaurant. As the population of pet owners has recently increased, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has approved pilot projects for pet-friendly restaurants. Then, how many people are raising pets? According to the Korea Institute of Rural Economics (KREI), the proportion of people raising pets in Korea is expected to reach 30 percent and 15 million people in 2024, up from 17.4 percent in 2010. In addition, some predict that the pet-related market will expand from 3.4 trillion won in 2021 to 6 trillion won in 2027.

Another case in which you can realize that pets have become an important part of our society is the presidential candidate’s pledges which are made by candidates in consideration of major social issues such as labor, pension, and birth rate . In the last 20th presidential election pledge, it related to pet and animal rights were mentioned along with other important pledges. Specifically, there were pledges related to pet insurance, the establishment of funeral facilities, and the prohibition of eating dogs. This allows us to actually feel that pets are now clear members of society.

Background to the development of pet culture

Then, what is the background of the development of pet culture? The first is due to changes in the social structure. In Korean society, the number of single-person households is increasing day by day with the low birth rate and aging. As traditional family values gradually weakened, the phenomenon of welcoming pets as new families became natural. Second, pets provide humans with a sense of belonging. Pets help with psychological aspects such as warding off loneliness and stress. According to a survey by the Pet Feed Association, more than 75 percent of respondents aged 65 or older who own pets said they experienced less loneliness, emotional stability and stress reduction. Like this, pets are expected to help improve the quality of life of elderly households living alone.

A new economic phenomenon created by pet culture

Catching up with social change, Pets that have been integrated into our lives are about more than just animals; they are now family members. Have you ever heard of the new term pet humanization?

‘Pet humanization’ is a compound word of pet and human, meaning that pets are considered as a family member and treated like people. Just as we don't begrudge the money spent on our loved ones, pet owners also don't regret the money spent on pets that are the same as their families. Naturally, the ‘petconomy’-which is a compound word of pet and economy- has shown a rapid growth trend.

‘Petconomy’ is related to the pet’s whole life such as pet education and training, feed and supplies, beauty, treatment, insurance, and funerals. For example, the sales volume of one of the pet items, ‘pet stroller’, exceeds the sales volume of baby’s stroller. So we can realize that petconomy is becoming commonplace. In addition, the increasing number of puppy kindergartens responsible for pet education and training can be seen as an influence of the petconomy.

Need for social norms concerning pet culture

The rapid growth of pet culture has a positive impact on our economy, but on the other hand, we also have new social tasks. It is a matter of establishing social norms about pets. In order for the pet culture to coexist with our society, it is essential to prepare norms to solve social tasks such as safety accidents caused by not putting a muzzle, pet abandonment problems, etc. From now on, we will look at three social problems that require social norms.

The first is about how to take care of pets. Specific problems include noise between apartments, safety accidents caused by not putting a muzzle, and discomfort caused by pet defecation. As days go by, conflicts among citizens are increasing due to pets, but social norms such as legal norms and individual responsibilities are not properly established.

The second is the abandonment of pets. Along with the increase in pets, pet abuse and abandonment problems are also on the rise. Although the ‘Animal Registration System’, a system that imposes a unique number on pets and registers owner’s personal information and pet information, is in place, there are problems such as not being properly implemented and not being able to hold someone accountable for abandonment.
The third deals with the production and distribution of pets. Although the culture of treating pets like humans has been established, the process of bringing pets is similar to the process of bringing ‘things’. According to a survey by the Pet Food Association, most of them are purchased at pet shops or adopted privately by acquaintances. The amount of adoptions from an animal shelter is so low that only 8.2% of dogs and 27.2% of cats fall in that case. Problems arise while pet shops or acquaintances do not educate pets or review breeding environments when pets are re-homed.

So what social norms should be established to live with pets?

First of all, it seems necessary to strengthen the animal registration system. Currently, in Korea, a fine of 200,000 won for the first round of detection, 400,000 won for the second round of detection, and 600,000 won for the third round of detection is set. However, they are rarely fined for it, which seems ineffective. How effective is it in other countries that have implemented animal registration systems like us? In the case of France, it is mandatory to insert a recognition chip at the birth of a dog, and a fine of about 40 million won is imposed for deliberately abandoning an animal. In the case of Germany, pets cannot be taken out without identification. It seems that Korea also needs to implement the animal registration system through stronger sanctions like these.

In addition, when bringing pets, it is necessary to activate the system of adopting abandoned animals rather than purchasing them through pet shops. Establishing a platform that can actively promote abandoned animals could be a solution.

Finally, it is also essential to have an autonomous attitude to take responsibility for pets. Just as we accept and embrace not only the good part of our family but also the lack of them, we need to keep in mind the fact that pets can cause unintended damage to others and we must take responsibility for them instead. If such social norms are well established, we will be able to solve many social tasks surrounding pets and move on to a society where pets and members of society coexist happily.

(Image source(in order) : pixabay, pixabay, Getty image)