Ask a North Korean: do you keep pets?

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/27/north-koreans-pets-monkey-dog-breed

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In Pyongyang, the most common pets are monkeys and dogs. Few outside of the capital can afford to have animals because they take up a lot of effort and money, though some people keep dogs for their meat or to guard the house when they’re not home.

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In 2000 I had a cute Maltese dog. People in my neighbourhood always stopped by my house to see him and many would say how much they wanted one too.

My parents gave my pet away. I was sad to see the dog go but it was my parents’ decision and there was nothing I could do about it.

Monkey business

Monkeys were once popular in Pyongyang but became less so later on, and there is a story which explains why.

In North Korea if you use electricity without the government’s permission you are subject to a big fine, and it’s illegal to use a microwave or rice cooker because they consume too much power.

So people use them in secret. To try to catch them, public servants stop by houses at random, and people have to try to hide them.

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One day an officer stopped by to inspect a house where they were keeping a monkey. The family had to hide their microwave before opening the door. This particular officer was very suspicious and demanded that they come clean and admit that they had used a microwave. Just then their pet monkey, who had been observing this situation, grabbed the microwave from its hiding place and pulled it down in front of them all.

Almost every family has secrets: things that are perfectly legal in democratic societies but illegal in North Korea. Because monkeys are smart, they manage to get their owners into trouble. Instead, people have started to turn to dogs and piglets for pets.

Thunderbolt

Outside Pyongyang people keep shepherd dogs for pets instead of smaller dogs. I always felt that shepherds were like a friend to people, while small dogs were little babies who act cute to attract attention.

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We had a shepherd dog while I lived in North Korea. We named him Bun-kae, which means “thunderbolt”. When my mother was defrauded in 2005 my family went through financial difficulties and we had to sell our dog for a lot of money.

Three days later, Bun-kae escaped from his new home and found his way back to us. My mum was so touched that Bun-kae came back home but there is a Korean saying which goes: “It brings bad luck when an animal which left your house comes back”. So my family ended up returning Bun-kae.