South Koreans turn to tarot to understand their pets’ thoughts

A greyhound named Khan sniffs at a spread of tarot cards at a fortune-telling shop in the South Korean capital of Seoul, before ​placing a paw on one.

Across the table, his owner, Ahn Hye-joo, waits anxiously ‌to learn the meaning of the card, which depicts a dog chasing its owner.

Hwang Soo-kyung, a tarot reader who runs the Ace Sophia fortune-telling parlor in the city’s upmarket Gangnam district, said the image indicated anxiety ​related to the five puppies fathered by the pedigree animal.

A growing niche offering among fortune-telling shops, “pet tarot” is driven by a surge in pet ownership ​as fewer South Koreans choose to have children, deterred by costly housing and education, Reuters writes.

Government surveys show 29.2% of homes in South Korea, which has the world’s lowest birth rate, were raising pets this year, up from 17.4% in ​2010.

Hwang, who opened her shop in 2014, said demand for pet tarot has grown as ​owners increasingly view the animals as family, or sometimes a sole domestic companion.

No clients have ever limited themselves ‌to ⁠just one session, she added, at a cost of 20,000 won ($14) each.