Why do teachers get pets in Korea?

I thankfully ignored the naysayers and have two 8-year-old cats i've had since they were kittens. I will have them until 2030 or so.

That said, if you are a 1- or 2-year teacher with no plans of sticking around (and can't take them back home) then BY ALL MEANS adopt an older cat from a shelter, just don't get a kitten with the anticipation of BAILING (unless you are the 10%ish who dedicatedly finds a replacement owner - the f'n' delusion IDEA of most newbies who get kittens and pay pet mills. VERY FEW deliver.

A kitten or puppy should be a decade-long committment. More, probably.

BUt..BUT... to ADOPT AN ADULT cat or dog from a shelter for 1 or 2 years, then ensure they get another 1 or 2 years with a caring person after you leave: that's GREAT!

Go to an animal shelter if you think you will be here for multiple years! Seeing the animals IN NEED will/should make you decide to give one (or two - cuz they need a buddy when you ain't around) a home for a few years! DO IT.

Just please don't give money to the mills of puppies and kittens.

Perhaps your title should not "moderator"..but "bloviator".

FFS dude, don't let Van live rent-free in your head.

This thread started in 2011 with the following concern, and it remains. You are...

... here on a TEMPORARY BASIS. Dogs and cats live for years. What do you expect to happen to that animal when you leave? Just fob it off on whoever is willing to take it? We all have two big vacations a year where we go off to Thailand or home or Bali or whatever and who do you expect to look after your pet? Pets are not disposable. You may think you're doing the world a favor taking home a little hamster from E-Mart but it's even more cruel when you up and leave in a years time and expect someone else to take it or even worse have it put down because you can't take it with you. Unless you're taking your fluffy Persian back...

Four things:
1.Don't expect others to help.
2. Leave the animals in the cages.
3. Do not support the industry.
4. Volunteer at a shelter if you want.

 (Two of the above i believe,
a third i don't but at sometimes feel have do,
 and the other i certainly in no universe support.)

Back in 2014 I knew a teacher who had basically collected three cats, two hamsters and a fish tank full of creatures.

She put a Facebook post up and got rid of the hamsters and the fish tank as they were given away for free. However not the cats as she wanted $50+ per cat.

She literally went to the park and released the cats a week before she left Korea! This is why I never had pets in Korea. It’s horrible to just basically throw out your pets

 Iguana's used to be really popular. Haven't seen them in a while. a real drunk impulse pet.

Back in 2014 I knew a teacher who had basically collected three cats, two hamsters and a fish tank full of creatures.

She put a Facebook post up and got rid of the hamsters and the fish tank as they were given away for free. However not the cats as she wanted $50+ per cat.

She literally went to the park and released the cats a week before she left Korea! This is why I never had pets in Korea. It’s horrible to just basically throw out your pets

Unfortunately pet abandonment is not just a Korean problem.
It happens in every country and is reprehensible. I came to Korea
with a cat I rescued in Canada, rescued another in my first week
here and kept both until they both died long comfortable lives.

Just the other day I sneaked into a junkyard and released two cats
from a cage. It could have gone bad for me if I had been caught on
CCTV, but nothing happened. Anyway, prevention of animal cruelty is
something I would gladly go to jail for.