Working women find their cat Seoul-mates
Saturday, August 11, 2007
AGROWING number of unmarried working women in South Korea are sharing their homes with cats.
Independent-minded, young women prefer quiet cats to noisy dogs because they consider cats a clean, neat and convenient alternative to demanding dogs, according to a Seoul-based association for cat lovers named Corea Cat Club.
Around 100,000 people live with cats only, the club estimates, adding that the majority are working women in their 20s and 30s who are too busy to take good care of pets.
Women appreciate the companionship of cats, the club notes. "Cats do not bark and they do know where to poo. Cats do not often demand your attention," says Jeong In-gyung, 35, who shares her home with an abandoned cat she adopted in 2004.
"I just prepare breakfast for my cat and leave for the office. I don't have to worry about her. She can take a good care of herself," she adds.
Cat owners share cat-loving joy at Internet cafes. There are some 10 cat cafes at major portals like www.daum.net or www.naver.com. Every cat cafe has up to 10,000 members, a majority of whom are women.
Sometimes, Jeong travels to a cat cafe like GioCat in a southern suburb of Seoul, where the animals can play with each other and where toys like cat towers are provided while she chats to other cat owners.
Sometimes, cat owners can opt for a cat hotel to take care of their feline while they go on vacation.
"I usually receive four or five calls a day from women who ask me to take care of their cat while they are on vacation," says Yoo Sang- wook, who runs the GioCat cafe.
This has led to increasing sales in toys for cats. "Cat toys represent about 30 per cent of our total sales," said Lee Kyung-chull, 38, who runs a pet toy store in Seoul.
However, not all cats live happily ever after with their new owners. Cats are apparently abandoned when their owners become bored or irritated by ageing cats who begin to shed hair or scratch the furniture, says Lee Soo-jung at the Korea Animal Rescue and Management Association.
"We pick up at least 300 to 400 abandoned cats a month," Lee says. DPA
Independent-minded, young women prefer quiet cats to noisy dogs because they consider cats a clean, neat and convenient alternative to demanding dogs, according to a Seoul-based association for cat lovers named Corea Cat Club.
Around 100,000 people live with cats only, the club estimates, adding that the majority are working women in their 20s and 30s who are too busy to take good care of pets.
Women appreciate the companionship of cats, the club notes. "Cats do not bark and they do know where to poo. Cats do not often demand your attention," says Jeong In-gyung, 35, who shares her home with an abandoned cat she adopted in 2004.
"I just prepare breakfast for my cat and leave for the office. I don't have to worry about her. She can take a good care of herself," she adds.
Cat owners share cat-loving joy at Internet cafes. There are some 10 cat cafes at major portals like www.daum.net or www.naver.com. Every cat cafe has up to 10,000 members, a majority of whom are women.
Sometimes, Jeong travels to a cat cafe like GioCat in a southern suburb of Seoul, where the animals can play with each other and where toys like cat towers are provided while she chats to other cat owners.
Sometimes, cat owners can opt for a cat hotel to take care of their feline while they go on vacation.
"I usually receive four or five calls a day from women who ask me to take care of their cat while they are on vacation," says Yoo Sang- wook, who runs the GioCat cafe.
This has led to increasing sales in toys for cats. "Cat toys represent about 30 per cent of our total sales," said Lee Kyung-chull, 38, who runs a pet toy store in Seoul.
However, not all cats live happily ever after with their new owners. Cats are apparently abandoned when their owners become bored or irritated by ageing cats who begin to shed hair or scratch the furniture, says Lee Soo-jung at the Korea Animal Rescue and Management Association.
"We pick up at least 300 to 400 abandoned cats a month," Lee says. DPA
Business Besides Oil
