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Pet craze creates new job chances

With the number of pet owners in Taiwan growing in recent years, the local employment market has seen the emergence of some interesting new jobs such as pet sitters and pet trainers.

According to a survey conducted earlier this month by the home tutor Web site run by the 104 Job Bank, an online employment service provider, many people who have experience caring for pets have expressed an interest in working as pet sitters or walkers, asking anywhere from NT$100 (US$3) to NT$200 per hour for their services.

More and more people have also begun offering pet training services. These pet trainers, who make home visits to instruct pet owners in how to improve the discipline of their pets, ask anywhere from NT$300 to NT$500 per hour for their services.

While some pet trainers also provide pet nutrition advice and basic etiquette training, there is one who claims he can teach parrots skills such as ringing a bell, raising a flag, completing a jigsaw puzzle and riding a bicycle.

Among the pet-related courses available, courses in training for pets are the most in demand, requested by 68 percent of owners. Also in high demand are pet beauty courses and entry-level pet care courses, which were requested by 23 percent and 16 percent of the respondents, respectively.

Meanwhile, the survey also showed that approximately 40 percent of the pet owners are planning to have their pets receive some kind of training in the near future.
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