You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
Pets across<br />
Cultures<br />
Cats, dogs, birds and<br />
other animal pets have<br />
lived alongside humans<br />
for thousands of years. We<br />
share our homes with them<br />
choosing our favorite species<br />
with bias that often<br />
depend upon our culture.<br />
In fact, pet preference varies<br />
from country to country.<br />
Russia Federation has the highest proportion<br />
of cat owners: 57% of households have<br />
a cat. You do not have to walk a cat outside<br />
in the snow during the long winters, so<br />
this might be a good reason to keep a cat<br />
instead of a dog.<br />
China has the highest proportion in the<br />
world of fish owners: 17% of household<br />
12 <strong>PETME</strong> Issue 83 <strong>DEC</strong>EMBER <strong>2019</strong><br />
have fish and other water creatures kept in<br />
aquariums. This might reflect the Chinese<br />
inclination for small sized animals: think<br />
about the silkworm, first domesticated 5000<br />
years ago in China, or the singing cricket,<br />
domesticated as pet about 1500 years<br />
ago: singing and fighting crickets were the<br />
favorite pets of Emperors. Chinese people<br />
possess a unique attraction towards small<br />
creatures, which is embodied in the artistic<br />
obsession for flower, bird, fish and insect. A<br />
book named The Affairs of the period Tsin-<br />
Tao (742–756) mentions that “…whenever<br />
the autumnal season arrives, the ladies of<br />
the palace catch crickets in small golden<br />
cages ... and during the night hearken to<br />
the voices of the insects. This custom was<br />
imitated by all the people.”<br />
South Korea, on the other hand, has the<br />
lowest pet ownership in the world. Only<br />
32% of households have a pet. This aspect<br />
is probably influenced by the high cost of
Change language