A girl watches a pet dog at the 2010 Shanghai pet fair in Shanghai, on Friday. Gao Erqiang / China Daily
SHANGHAI - The rising cost of keeping pets in many large Chinese cities in tandem with high property prices did not keep crowds from flocking to the opening of a major Shanghai pet fair on Friday.
In addition to dogs, cats and other furry animals, more unusual offerings like pony-sized alpacas from the arid mountains of Peru also appeared at the three-day fair.
The host of these exotic pets, Beijing Rare Animal Breeding Co, is trying to find homes for their charges in the villas and country estates of Shanghai and neighboring regions, where some of China's richest property, industrial and financial tycoons live.
"We are keen to deliver exotic pets such as mini horses and alpacas to wealthy families who own country estates and villas in China. We already sold 30 mini horses and four alpacas to individual buyers last year," said Yu Hao, the sales manager of Beijing Rare Animal Breeding & Promoting.
The domestic pet market continues to expand even with the rising cost of rearing animals, those in the industry have said.
"Since 2006, the annual growth of the domestic market for pet supplies has doubled every year as a result of improved living standards," said Zhang Songting, sales manager of DoggyMan Trading (Shanghai) Co Ltd, a Japanese manufacturer of pet products.
"Our main office in Japan has a series of new pet products to fit the growing China market every year," Zhang said.
The demand for pet healthcare products, accessories and even fashion is growing very fast, pet shop owners at the fair said.
Lu Jieming, the owner of a 1 1/2-year-old chow chow, bought the dog last year.
The dog cost about 6,000 yuan and its regular monthly expenses are about 600 yuan, including dog food, toys and a monthly bath.
Lu also spends 1,000 yuan to register the dog annually and that does not include the vet bills for the required health checkup every year.
"The costs are reasonable," Lu said.
"The dog has become a member of my family and it lives with us in an apartment without a cage. I don't give it any particular training because I want it to be happy in its short life," Lu said.
A number of pets also seem to be enjoying a more luxurious lifestyle than the common man, if the prices of pet products offered at the fair are anything to go by.
From small accessories like necklaces costing a few dozen yuan to bottles of pet shampoo at 400 yuan apiece and pet cages worth thousands of yuan, pet owners are not holding back.
"I am very fond of living with my dog although it is a bit too energetic for me at my age," said Xia Ying, a 63-year old retired woman whose son lives abroad. He bought her a shibainu dog, the smallest of the six original and distinct breeds of dog from Japan, to accompany her in her old age. Xia said she spends most of her pension on the dog.
To satisfy the demands of her pedigree pet, she has to buy for it a particular brand of dog food and pet care products that set her back at least 1,000 yuan a month.
"If it gets ill, I have to take it to a specific clinic," Xia said.
"That can be really expensive."
