The Health and Mood-Boosting Benefits of Pets

Pet Health

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In your own words, please briefly summarize the article.

Do you have pets? If so, what kind (dogs, cats, etc.)? How long have you had your pets?

How many pets do you have? How long have you been raising them for? (If you do not have pets, feel free to share what kind of pet you might want, and why.)

According to the passage, cat ownership grew coinciding with the growth of what? Why do you think this is?

Do you think pets should be considered a part of the family?

What do you think are things that caused changes in the perception of pets?

Raising pets can involve many coinciding responsibilities. Who is responsible for taking care of pets in your household? If you do not have pets, who would be responsible for taking care of a pet?

Do you follow pet-related content? What do you like about it? Do you believe raising pets gives you a sense of emotional stability?

If you have a question or questions that you'd like to discuss during your class, please write them down.

가족의 일원이 된 반려동물

Do you have pets?

Pets Are Family to Us

반려동물을 키우고 계신가요?

In recent years, the number of families raising pets has increased significantly. In the past, pets were often raised to prevent home invasion or just for the aesthetic because of their cuteness, but more people have started to accept them as family. When asked about the benefits of raising a pet, three answers commonly come up: “my loneliness subsided,” “I became more emotionally <span style="12pt; font-family: Georgia; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 700; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">stable [1],” and “I am not as stressed out.” If modernization has led to less human interaction, making more people anxious, raising pets is at least a partial solution.  These changes in perception and increased interest in pets led to the production of TV shows like "There Are No Bad Dogs in the World" and "TV Animal Farm." In turn, increased popularity of pet content and pets has fed into the growth of related industry sectors. According to a survey conducted in 2017, dogs are the most common pet in Korea, taking up 78.7 percent of the pet population, followed by cats (22.7 percent), fish (4 percent), hamsters (2.2 percent), birds (1.6 percent), and reptiles (1.5  percent). Even though dogs make up the highest proportion, cat ownership is increasingly growing. This pattern <span style="12pt; font-family: Georgia; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 700; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">coincides [2] with the increase in single-person households. A common perception is that cats do well when left unattended because they tend to be more independent compared to dogs. Are you raising a pet now? Or are you thinking about getting a new one? What kind of pet do you consider to be part of your family?

<span style="12pt; font-family: Nanum Myeongjo, serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">최근 몇 년 간 반려동물을 키우는 가족이 크게 증가했습니다. 과거에는 반려동물을 도둑의 침범을 막기 위해, 또는 ‘관상용’으로 보기 예뻐서 키우는 경우가 많았는데, 최근에는 이들을 가족의 일원으로 인식하는 분들이 더 많아졌습니다.   <span style="12pt; font-family: Nanum Myeongjo, serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">반려인들은 반려동물로부터 얻는 세 가지 가치로 “외로움을 덜 타게 되었다” “정서가 안정되었다” “스트레스가 감소하였다” 등을 꼽습니다. 현대 사회로 접어들며 사람들 간 소통은 줄고 이에 따라 정서적 안정감을 충분히 느끼지 못하는 사람들이 증가했는데, 반려동물이 이러한 이슈를 조금이나마 줄여주는 역할을 담당한다 하겠습니다.  <span style="12pt; font-family: Nanum Myeongjo, serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">반려동물에 대한 인식 변화 및 관심 증가는 ‘세상에 나쁜 개는 없다’ ‘TV 동물농장’ 등 반려동물 관련 방송/영상 콘텐츠 제작으로 이어졌으며, 해당 콘텐츠들에 대한 관심이 증가하면서 반려인들이 증가하고 관련 산업이 성장하는 선순환으로 이어지고 있습니다.  <span style="12pt; font-family: Nanum Myeongjo, serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2017년 한 조사에 따르면, 한국의 반려동물 분포는 강아지가 78.7%로 가장 높고, 고양이 22.7%, 물고기 4%, 햄스터 2.2%, 새 1.6%, 파충류 1.5% 등입니다. 비중은 강아지가 가장 높지만, 비중의 증가는 반려묘가 더 빠릅니다. 여기에는 1인 가구의 증가와 경제적 이유가 맞물립니다. 보통 고양이는 강아지에 비해 비교적 독립적인 편이어서 혼자서도 잘 큰다는 것이 일반적인 인식입니다.  <span style="12pt; font-family: Nanum Myeongjo, serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">여러분은 현재 반려동물을 키우고 계시나요? 아니면 혹시 반려동물을 새로이 맞아들일 고민을 하고 계시나요? 어떤 반려동물이 나의 가족이 될 수 있을까요?<span style="12pt; font-family: Nanum Myeongjo, serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">