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By Kim Rahn
Public awareness on animal protection and rights has increased, but nearly three out of 10 pet owners have thought about giving up raising their animals due to various difficulties, a survey showed Friday.
According to the survey, conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs on 5,000 citizens last October, 27.7 percent said that they were raising at least one pet. When calculating the number of households nationwide, 6.38 million are estimated to be raising pets.
More than 48 percent of the respondents said that existing punishments for animal abuse were too light, while 40.6 percent said they were adequate.
Over half of the people said animal abusers should be subject to stricter punishment. In particular, 96.3 percent of the respondents said that stricter punishment is a must for types of physical abuse, such as beating or setting fire to an animal.
If they were to witness animal abuse, 53.4 percent said they would report it to the police or local government, while 48.4 percent said they would seek help from animal protection organizations and 23.4 percent said they would tell the abuser to stop the act directly. Multiple answers were allowed to this question.
However, 28.1 percent of the respondents said they thought about giving up raising their pets.
As for the causes, 29.4 percent cited their animals' uncontrollable behaviors, such as barking or damaging objects; 20.5 percent cited changed lifestyles or living environments after moving or a getting job which made it difficult to raise a pet; 18.9 percent felt financial pressure from larger-than-expected expenses for the animals; and 14 percent cited their pets' deteriorating health conditions following a disease or an accident.
Among dog owners, 68.4 percent said they properly abide by the rules and etiquette that dog owners need to follow. But of those who do not have dogs, only 22.4 percent said they believe dog owners do so. These people said they think dog owners do not properly abide by the rules because there are almost no attempts to curb violators.
