Pet

A pet (애완동물/愛玩動物), or companion animal (반려동물/伴侶動物), is a household animal kept for companionship and a person's enjoyment, as opposed to livestock, laboratory animals, working animals and sport animals which are kept for economic reasons.

The most popular pets, dogs and cats, are noted for their attractive appearances and their loyal or playful characteristics. In some cases pets may also provide their owners with benefits, such as providing companionship to elderly adults who do not have adequate social interaction with other people.

There are also rodent (설치류) pets, such as gerbils, hamsters, chinchillas, fancy rats, and guinea pigs; avian (조류) pets, such as canaries, parakeets, and parrots; reptile (파충류) pets, such as turtles, lizards and snakes; and aquatic (수생/水生) pets, such as tropical fish and frogs.

The more you know about your dog, the healthier your dog will be. See Chosun InfoGraphics, "All about Dog's Health".

Key words
pet, companion animal, pet therapy, animal welfare, veterinary quarantine

Pet therapy
There is now a medically-approved class of "therapy animals," mostly dogs, that are brought to visit confined humans. Pet therapy utilizes trained animals and handlers to achieve specific physical, social, cognitive, and emotional goals with patients.

Walking a dog can provide both the owner and the dog with exercise, fresh air, and social interaction. In some cases, a dog or a cat gives an insight into life which has never been achieved in the human society. As shown below, a dog may have a memorable time with its owner's family.

Animal protection activities
Animal protection groups at home and abroad try to prevent cruelty to animals and to enhance the welfare of companion animals.

In Korea, a number of animal protection groups are staging various campaigns to protect animals, promote vegetarianism, and object to fur products. In the early 2011, they gathered signatures from citizens to express protest against the government policy to lift the exemption of VAT of 10 percent on the medical expenses of pets at vaterinary clinics as from July 1, 2011. As a result, pet owners have to pay 10 percent of VAT on the medical expense of their animals, which is not usually covered by commercial insurance. In 2013, such animal protection campaign as "Save deserted animals" has made a new phase. For an instance, the World Art Therapy Association (WATA, 예술치료협회) invited a Japanese specialist of the Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT, 동물매개치료) to a series of workshops to train a deserted dog to make such a therapy dog. A deserted dog-turned therapy dog can do a good job to improve the condition of a person with Alzheimer's disease. In this regard, WATA has an idea that, if such training course is committed to persons with developmental disorders (발달장애), they may have job opportunities and save more and more deserted dogs.
 * Korea Animal Rights Advocates (KARA, 동물보호시민단체)
 * Korea Animal Protection Society (KAPS, 한국동물보호협회)
 * Coexistence of Animal Rights on Earth (CARE, 동물사랑실천협회)
 * Animal Free Solidarity (동물자유연대)
 * Korea Association for Animal Protection (KAAP, 한국동물보호연합)
 * People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA, 동물을 인도적으로 사랑하는 사람들)
 * Humane Society (미국의 대표적인 동물보호단체)

Mandatory Pet registration
Pet animals like three-or-more-month old dogs (currently excluding cats) are required to be registered with local governments or their agents as provided by the Animal Protection Act (동물보호법/動物保護法), which came into force nationwide on January 1, 2013. Failing to observe the relevant ordinance of municipalities, the owner of such dog shall be fined.

The owner may elect one of the following methods for registration of his/her dog:
 * Imbedded RFID tag inside the body;
 * Outside RFID tag; or
 * Registration tag around the neck.

Animal Protection Act
The keeping of animals as pets can raise concerns in regard to animal welfare. In particular, overpopulation is cited as a problem, as is the breeding and treatment of animals. In some cases, people can view the keeping of animals as akin to slavery.

In this connection, the Animal Protection Act was wholly amended in August 2011, and came into force on July 1, 2012. At present, the National Veterinary Research & Quarantine Service (국립수의과학검역원) takes charge of animal protection in general, while laboratory animals are under the jurisdiction of the Korea Food & Drug Administration (식품의약품안전청).

Enactment of the Animal Protection Act (wholly amended)
As companion animals are reportedly treated brutally by their owners, and an enhanced supervision of the shelters for abandoned animals is strongly demanded, the following new systems and measures will be implemented to improve the animal protection and the level of their welfare:
 * The Animal Welfare Committee will be established in the government to formulate and operate consolidated animal welfare plans;
 * The government should introduce the certification of Animal Welfare Farm;
 * The animal registration shall be implemented by all the local governments, as mentioned above;
 * Animal shelters for abused animals shall be established; and
 * Punishment of any person who harasses and abuses his/her animal.

Main points of the Animal Protection Act
a. The Animal Welfare Committee will be established. Article 5 of the Act
 * The Committee is to advise the Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MIFAFF) on the matter of animal protection and welfare.

b. Abused animals will be saved and protected. Articles 14, 15 and 19-22.
 * In addition to abandoned animals, the local governments shall protect the animals abused by their owners, etc. and provide such animals with shelters and treatment at the cost of their owners.

c. The supervision of the Animal Experiment Ethics Committee will be strengthened. Articles 25 through 28.
 * So far the supervision of the Animal Experiment Ethics Committee was groundless. The head of the institution performing animal experiment shall be empowered by MIFAFF to direct or supervise the composition and operation of the Animal Experiment Ethics Committee, and to order the correction of any deficiency or problem, if the composition and operation thereof is found deficient.
 * It is expected to refrain careless experiment of animals and to permit such experiment in an ethical way.

d. The certification of "Animal Welfare Farm" will be introduced. Articles 29 through 31.
 * In order to protect livestock animals subject to the Sanitary Livestock Products Management Act and to enhance their welfare in the course of feeding, a new system to authenticate livestock farms which satisfy such protection and welfare standards will be introduced.
 * Authenticated livestock farms will be eligible for financial assistance to improve farm facilities.

e. The punishment of animal abuse and intentional experiment of the prohibited animals will be heavily enforced. Article 46.
 * Any person who abuses or does cruelty to animals shall be subject to imprisonment up to one year or penalty not exceeding 10 million won.
 * Any person who does experiments of the prohibited animals shall be subject to penalty not exceeding 500 thousand won. In this case, the prohibited animals include cow, ox, horse, pig, dog, cat, rabbit, chicken, goose, sheep, goat, deer, fox, mamals, birds, etc.