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February 1, 2018

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Cashing in on China鈥檚 left-behind pets

Pet shops in Chinese cities are seeing more business as people go home for the Lunar New Year.

Each year the Spring Festival travel period, known as chunyun, witnesses the world鈥檚 largest human migration, as families gather for the China鈥檚 most important holiday.

This year鈥檚 monthlong travel rush is forecast to involve 2.98 billion trips, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.

But as the procedures to take pets home can be complicated in China, many pet owners choose to have their companion animals stay in pet shops for the big holiday.

In Beijing鈥檚 Tongzhou district, a pet shop owner has asked customers to reserve the animal cages as early as possible. 鈥淎s we will see a big number of animals during the Lunar New Year, we advise our customers to book in advance,鈥 the shop owner said.

A similar situation can be found in Taiyuan, capital of north China鈥檚 Shanxi Province. In a pet shop in Taiyuan鈥檚 Changfeng Road, half of the shop鈥檚 20-plus cages have been booked up already.

鈥淭he demand for pet fostering is huge during the Spring Festival holiday,鈥 the shop owner said.

China has over 30,000 pet stores, about three times that of the United States.


 

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