At one animal hospital in Seoul dogs and their owners stroll in and out each day with the number of pet owners in Korea on the rise.
A beloved pet provides priceless devotion and companionship.
However, properly caring for a pet also carries a price.
[Interview : Ha Yeon, Dog Owner ] "I feel like my dog is a part of my family. So when they get sick we take them to the hospital. But it costs at least 30-thousand won per visit which I feel is a little too expensive."
[Interview : Park Yong-seung, Dog Owner] "Our hospital bills are cheap because we have health insurance. However, our dogs don't have insurance so the costs tend to add up. I often felt that it would be good if there was an insurance policy for dogs."
There are about 3.5 million pets in the country compared to 2.7 million in 2000 with most of them being dogs.
And it seems that this number won't be going down anytime soon.
Therefore, owners' interests in controlling the high cost for their pets' unexpected accidents and illnesses are also increasing.
[Interview : Oh Sun-kyung, Veterinarian] "There are cases where the dog needs further treatment, but because of the cost, some owners tend to give up on necessary surgeries."
Surely enough one can guess that insurance companies won't miss this golden trend.
One company in Seoul launched its first ever pet life insurance in 2008.
[Interview : Kim Young-joo, Marketing Manager
"L" Insurance Corporation
] "Under this insurance policy, the dog will be covered for clinic visits and surgeries from unexpected accidents or diseases. The policy also covers costs for funerals and fostering."
However, some still remain skeptical about the value of pet health insurance as many of them have turned out to be short-term or too difficult to sign up for.
Others say with such insurance policies for pets increasing in number veterinarians will be able to offer the quality of care that physicians offer.
[Interview : Cho Yoon-sang, Customer] "I get worried when my dog gets sick, but then at the same time I kind of worry about the costs for hospital visits as well.
So I came to check out what this insurance has to offer."
Both the veterinarians and the insurance planners say that owners always need to make sure that they read the policy carefully and ask questions since plans differ by dog sizes and types of illnesses.
Lee Ji-yoon, Arirang News.
FEB 05, 2010
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Thursday, SEP 09, 2010, (KST) 
