It's a dog's life and that ain't bad
Some people are almost obsessive in their love for their critter pals, wanting to take them wherever they go, but that is not always possible. Many restaurants refuse admittance to cats and dogs, but in recent years, pet restaurants have been popping up to meet increasing demand. Some popular ones are doing so well that they resemble miniature zoos. Their clientele come to play with their pets and eat. These places are almost like pet clubs, because "members" get to know each other very quickly due to their common interests.
Situated in downtown Taipei near the National Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, the Gustav Puppy Cafe used to be just pet-friendly, but at the end of last year, it became the first restaurant in Taiwan to offer fortune-telling services for pets.
Why in heaven's name, you might ask, would a dog need its fortune told? Our sources explain that pet fortune telling is not necessarily concerned with such things as previous lives, the current one, or future romantic encounters. Rather, these oracles combine the art of naming, date of birth and the eight characters of a horoscope, the Five Elements, Yi Jing divination, and the study of color to deal with more practical everyday issues, like finding lost pets, understanding their health, disease prevention, and even using the art of physiognomy to determine whether or not a pooch will place in an upcoming competition.
The pet oracle explains that in order to ensure that a pet's fortune is read accurately, its Chinese name and date of birth need to be provided.
The Gustav Puppy Cafe is a family business run by a young husband and wife team and their dog. Their pet soothsaying only costs NT$200, but let the buyer beware-there's really no way of knowing just how precise it is as, well, the animals cannot tell you.
In other news, a number of people signed up for an unprecedented adhisthana (assistance in spiritual progress-literally, "empowerment" and "responding") ceremony held in a Nantou temple last summer to convert their doggies to Buddhism.
It turns out that many of these pet owners love their pets so much that they take them to study under Buddhist masters in the hope that in the next life, they don't have to come back as animals. They receive "certificates of conversion" which include the pets' Buddhist names, specially selected by the Buddhist masters, written at the top.
These Buddhist masters point out that because every living thing has a Buddha-nature, they do not turn away animals that come to be converted. Whether or not the animals will be reincarnated as higher beings depends on what kind of lives they lead this time around.
The fortune tellers and spiritual guidance for pets are evidence of the concern that Taiwanese feel for their pets. A concern that is shared in China, which has been experiencing its own pet mania in recent years.
According to an AFP report early this year, the number of dogs in mainland China has reached 150 million. Last year in Beijing, for example, that number surpassed 500,000 as owners spent over RMB500 million on their precious canines. It is predicted that the dog food and accessories market will reach RMB15 billion by 2008-nothing to sneeze at, by any means.
Pet restaurants and pet motels of all kinds have been sprouting up as pets become more popular in Taiwan (top left). As personal buying power has improved, pet owners have been able to give their pets better lives. Pet snacks and beauty salons have become commonplace.