Richard

The most popular pet in the U.S. is a cat. Or a dog. While there are far more cats as pets, many homes have multiple cats. That means there are more households with a dog than there are households with cats * even if the total number of cats outnumbers dogs. Wait, we're confused now. According to the 2007 National Pet Owners Survey, here are the pet preferences of Americans:

• 142 million freshwater fish
• 88.3 million cats
• 74.8 million dogs
• 16 million birds
• 24.3 million small animals
• 13.8 million horses
• 13.4 million reptiles
• 9.6 million saltwater fish

Additionally, pet ownership in the U.S. has reached an all-time high with 71.1 million households owning at least one pet, which translates to 63% of all households. In 1988, the first year the survey was conducted, 51 million households owned a pet.


Just wondering if any Fishloreans participated in this survey.. and do you think it's accurate? BTW, did you notice the fish stats?!.. Can you imagine what the numbers would read if it was a global survey?!

Allie

That's interesting...I wonder what Canadian stats are??

COBettaCouple

that's pretty cool.. they didn't ask us.. so add 18 more fish to the survey..

Tom

It would be interesting to see those results. Richard, do you think you would be able to find one for Canada?
Tom

Richard

The data for Canada and as far as I can tell, several other countries in Europe and Asia, is available in the 2007/2008 National Pet Owners Survey book released by the APPMA ( American Pet Products Manufacturers Association) , and is put together primarily for pet products retailers and manufacturers within the association.. it's also available to non-members at a whopping $1195!.. that's several aquariums and numerous exotic fish in 'Richard Dollars'!.. LOL.. I came by the American stats through a service my station subscribes to that sends a daily package of fun facts and offbeat news to radio stations around the world.. wish they'd included data for Canada, Australia and The United Kingdom though.

Allie

Oh darn!

COBettaCouple

yea, that's kinda crazy!

Isabella

Interesting statistics Richard. Where did you get them from? I also wonder how accurate they are. But they're most likely right that cats, dogs, and fish are most common pets in our households.

Although there is a greatest number of fish in households ... sadly ... the greatest number of fish must be dying in those households as well. We all know how "informed" most beginners are There'll never be as many cat and dog deaths per household as there are fish deaths. (Which doesn't mean I want cats and dogs to die at the same rate that fish die! LOL )

neverendingninja

Maybe we can get a discount if we do a group buy?

COBettaCouple

yea, we need 1195 members for the group buy.