A greyhound named Khan sniffs at a spread of tarot cards at a fortune-telling shop in the South Korean capital of Seoul, before placing a paw on one.
Across the table, his owner, Ahn Hye-joo, waits anxiously to learn the meaning of the card, which depicts a dog chasing its owner.
A greyhound named Khan sniffs at a spread of tarot cards at a fortune-telling shop in the South Korean capital of Seoul, before placing a paw on one
(Credit: Reuters)
Hwang Soo-kyung, a tarot reader who runs the Ace Sophia fortune-telling parlour in the city's upmarket Gangnam district, said the image indicated anxiety related to the five puppies fathered by the pedigree animal.
"These feelings Khan experiences are something vets or dog trainers don't know, since it doesn't manifest as a major issue to them," said his owner Ahn, whose eyes lit up as she listened.
(Photo: REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji)
A growing niche offering among fortune-telling shops, "pet tarot" is driven by a surge in pet ownership as fewer South Koreans choose to have children, deterred by costly housing and education.
Government surveys show that this year 29.2% of households in South Korea, the country with the world’s lowest birth rate, own pets, compared with 17.4% in 2010
Hwang, who opened her shop in 2014, said demand for pet tarot has grown as owners increasingly view the animals as family, or sometimes a sole domestic companion.
(Photo: REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji)
"They come back because once you start asking what your dog is thinking, you can't really stop."
She designed a deck of the cards for pets, who sometimes include turtles and reptiles, in response to customers' queries whether she could discern their animals' thoughts.
If a pet chooses a card featuring swords, for example, that can signal the animal is physically unwell, perhaps suffering from joint pain, Hwang added.
(Photo: REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji)
(Photo: REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji)
Some owners feel the readings provide more than entertainment.
Ryu Su-mi brought in her rescue dog, E-seul, who has been skittish around anyone dressed like a paramedic ever since Ryu collapsed at home and was hospitalised.
Hwang said the dog's choice of card showed the trauma was still there, but healing.
"I'd have no way of knowing that on my own," Ryu said. "We look each other in the eye every day, but there's clearly a lot we're missing."