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Dogs with golden spoon and earthen one

Posted April. 22, 2016 07:41,   

Updated April. 22, 2016 07:46

한국어

It is not just humans who have been seriously affected by the Kumamoto earthquakes. Not a few animal companions lost their homes and owners. Japan’s national broadcaster NHK introduced volunteers who have rolled up their sleeves to help them. Their warm-heartedness of taking care of animal companions who are left alone out of earthquake damage made us choked up.

Their raised social status from just “pets” to “animal companions” is demonstrated in TV shows that are themed with dogs. A TV show called “A man who feeds the dog” of Channel A has recently introduced a day of "Juni," celebrity Choi Hwa-jeong’s dog. Choi prepares wholesome breakfast not only for her but for his Juni every morning and shares with her pet, like “one bite for Juni and one for me.” When Juni wets the bed, she becomes angry, saying, “What did mom say? Didn’t I tell you that you shouldn’t pee anywhere?” She soon falls for Juni when the dog uses its charm. Choi’s life with the dog seemed no different from any other families of parents and kids.

In the world of animal companions exist what we call “golden spoon” and “earthen one.” We call an area where dogs are “produced,” not bred, just as products are manufactured a “dog factory.” It is said that fraud sales of dogs are flourishing in which “dogs with earthen spoons” that are produced from the factory are sold as if they are born from normal families. On the other hand, Choupette Lagerfeld, a Siamese cat of Karl Lagerfeld, head designer of Channel, is a representative case of a cat with golden spoon. The cat annually earns as much as 4 million U.S. dollars (approx. 4.5 billion Korean won) by being in the car or cosmetic commercials. Choupette has as many as 58,000 followers at the Instagram.

The life of animal companions is strikingly different depending on their owners. In 2007 when New York’s real estate billionaire Leona Helmsley died, America was taken aback as her will said that she would bequeath some 12 million dollars to her dog. This is not the end of story. A German countess left some 80 million dollars to her German shepherd dog. There are, however, a lot more dogs whose life ended in misery because they had cruel owners. A domestic statistics shows that some 370,000 animal companions were abandoned between 2010 and 2014, out of which some 25 percent was died from euthanasia. It gives us heavy heart that animal companions are facing stark polarization as well.



고미석기자 mskoh119@donga.com