Citizens take dogs for a walk in central Seoul, in this file photo taken Jan. 31, 2021. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, June 30 (Korea Bizwire) — Pet owners engage in disputes with those without pets primarily because of hostile acts, and those without pets, in contrast, blame pet sanitation problems as a source of dispute, a survey showed Wednesday.
The Korea Tourism Organization conducted a survey of 2,006 people who have owned a pet for longer than six months and 500 people who haven’t had any experience of living with a pet in the last three years.
The survey showed that from the pet owner’s perspective, the source of disputes between pet owners and non-pet owners mostly came from hostile acts committed by non-pet owners (70.2 percent), followed by a lack of understanding among non-pet owners (61.9 percent), the pet’s sanitation problems (50.4 percent), pet noise (45.6 percent) and accidents caused by pets (35.2 percent).
From the non-pet owner’s standpoint, the source of disputes primarily came from the pet’s sanitation problems (75 percent), pet noise (64.7 percent), excessive reaction and response from pet owners (63.2 percent), accidents caused by pets (47.1 percent) and non-pet owners feeling uncomfortable around pets (29.4 percent).
In general, pet owners blamed non-pet owners, and vice-versa, as the primary source of disputes.
Pet owners and non-pet owners also had different thoughts about who was more likely to follow proper ‘petiquette’ (pet+etiquette).
At 80 percent, a majority of pet owners believed that they were doing well in terms of collecting pet excrements during travels, using a leash shorter than 2 meters and using a cage when taking public transportation.
In contrast, only 30 percent of non-pet owners believed pet owners are adhering to proper ‘petiquette’.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
