SEOUL, April 29 (Korea Bizwire) — As of last year, close to 6 million households nationwide were estimated to be raising 8.56 million companion animals.
According to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, and 5.91 million households raised companion animals, up 800,000 from 5.11 million a year earlier.
Specifically, it is estimated that 4.95 million households raised 5.98 million dogs and 1.92 million household raised 2.58 million cats.
In addition, those who registered their pets accounted for 67.3 percent of the total, up 17.1 percentage points from 50.2 percent a year earlier.
As for how they acquired their companion animals, 61.9 percent of the respondents cited an “interpersonal transaction”, followed by 23.2 percent who utilized a pet shop or similar agency.
Pets acquired through animal protection facilities accounted for only 9 percent of the total, indicating that the adoption of abandoned dogs or cats remains relatively unpopular.
The main reasons for not adopting companion animals from a protection facility were worry over “concerning behavior and disease,” accounting for 43.1 percent, and concern that an adopted animal would be too old (16.9 percent).
The survey asked 5,000 Koreans whether they raised pets or registered animals, and then extrapolated the results to 22.38 million households nationwide.
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