PET OWNERSHIP CLIMBS(Again, first with the information in the country…On “Pet Central,” we’ve ‘scooped’ other media outlets with the newest pet census taken by the American Pet Products Manufacturer’s Association.) Our country is now producing more pets than people. Pet ownership has jumped up by five percent over the past two years, according to the American Pet Products Manufacturer’s Association (APPMA) 1999/2000 National Pet Owners Survey. In that same two year period, the U.S. populus grew less than half as much - two per cent, according to figures from the U.S. Census Bureau. The new APPMA survey, which will be released later this summer, reveals an all time high of 61 per cent of the households in America now have at least one companion animal. Pet ownership has increased 18 per cent over the past ten years. Cats remain the most popular pet America; there are 64.2 million felines. Dogs increased seven per cent from 1996/1997 when the last APPMA survey was conducted. Canines now number at 62.5 million, and are now back in the race to reestablish their place as ‘man’s best friend.’ The APPMA survey also counts other kinds of pets. Perhaps it’s no surprise that rabbits are reproducing their numbers at a record pace. Forty per cent of all those who own a small pet have at least one rabbit, a hike of eight per cent over the last survey period. Other trends are frog and toad ownership which are up 12 per cent from ‘96/’97, probably a result of the interest in poison arrow frogs. There was a ten per cent gain in the number of households who have reptile or amphibian tenants, and three out of every ten of those homes has a green iguana. It seems clear interest in tropical fish is waning, sinking 12 per cent from ‘96/’97. There aren’t many other examples of pets decreasing in interest. Newts and lizards dropped two per cent from ‘96/97, and hermit crabs declined a barely noticeable one per cent. However, these little loves were the exceptions, nearly every kind of other companion animals from budgeries (parakeets) to Vietnamese pot bellied pigs increased in numbers or remained constant compared to the 1996/’97 survey. The Greenwich, CT based APPMA is a not-for-profit trade association representing pet manufacturers and businesses. The APPMA commissions the bi-annual National Pet Ownership Survey conducted by the NPD Group, Inc. in Port Washington, NY. The survey includes results from questionnaires completed by a total of 2,645 pet owning households from in all states except Alaska and Hawaii. The researchers at NPD Group maintain the study is statistically accurate, reflecting pet tastes and trends in America. The trend of using the internet to answer pet questions is hardly a surprise. Two years ago few than two per cent of pet owners went online to learn about pets, that number has now jumped three fold to six per cent. The most common sources for information among pet owners remains books and the media which combine for 67 per cent; followed by veterinarians at 39 per cent; then friends/relatives at 31 per cent. (This category add us to well over 100 per cent since pet owners were allowed to list several sources of information). Certainly, companion animals are members of the family, so it should come as no surprise that 54 per cent of dogs and 43 per cent of cats receive a Christmas/ holiday gift. What’s really fascinating is that four per cent of freshwater fish and eight per cent of reptiles also get something special for Christmas. The survey doesn’t include exactly what these lucky fish or reptiles get for presents. After all, what can you buy a guppy or lizard? As family members, 65 per cent of all dogs sleep anywhere they downright please, including sharing the bed with their people. That’s a significant increase from 34 per cent of canines who snoozed with their people and/or chose their own napping places in 1997. About the same per cent of cats, 67 per cent, catch 40 winks with their people and/or anywhere they want, up from 57 per cent in 1997. However, according to the survey, only 59 per cent of cats are kept exclusively indoors at night, that’s down from 71 per cent in the ’97 survey. No doubt these numbers will concern humane societies and others who support domestic cats being confined indoors at all times. The survey includes what pet owners cite as the best reasons or benefits for having pets. (Survey participants were allowed to list several reasons) Here are the top five benefits for living with various kinds of pets:
The survey also reveals at the downside of pet ownership, citing the drawbacks to owning various kinds of pets. It’s interesting to note the top three drawbacks for sharing homes with all kinds of pets are generally the same, though the order varies.
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