(image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — Chung, a 31-year-old pet lover, has been keeping his air conditioner at home turned on while he is away at work for the past couple of weeks.
This is for the sake of his pet dogs, who are at home all day long.
“Previously, I kept the windows open and fans on while I went to work. But when I came back home, my dogs were foaming at the mouth. Immediately, I purchased cooling mats and kept the air conditioner on while I went to work.”
Chung is dreading his electricity bill for July and August, but says that keeping the air conditioning on benefits his dogs, who are more susceptible to heat than humans due to the sweat glands on their paws.
But the moment Chung returns home, he turns off the air conditioning and heads to a neighborhood dog café where he stays with his dogs until the shop closes for the night.
But Chung is not the only one who is going the extra mile for the comfort of his pets.
Oh, a 36-year-old owner of a 5-year-old pet dog is considering installing a closed-circuit tv camera at home in order to better monitor his pet’s health.
Although Oh, like Chung, keeps the air conditioning on at home while at work, he is still worried that something bad may happen while he is away. He feels he may be comforted by being able to check up on his dog while at work.
For the less fortunate pets not adopted into good homes, being abandoned on the steaming pavement in the summer months is likely to be painful. (image: Yonhap)
Record high temperatures have had a polarizing effect on pets and their owners. For the less fortunate pets not adopted into good homes, being abandoned on the steaming pavement in the summer months is likely to be painful.
According to “Paw in Hand,” a website that tracks abandoned pets, the number of abandoned and lost animals that have were housed in animal shelters between July 5 and August 5 this year was 6,133, which was a more than sixfold increase from the same period last year.
Meanwhile, the number of animals in shelters that were returned to their owners decreased to 1,238 cases from 1,602 cases last year.
A total of 1,110 pets were adopted into new homes, which was just a third of last year’s figure of 3,000 adoptions.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
