US Pet Ownership Statistical Breakdown

For those of you that have been reading my blog for awhile, you know that I'm a numbers kind of guy. I like statistics, and using the statistical data to help better form my opinions on a variety of topics.

Late last year, a company called Mintel published a breakdown of Pet Ownership information. Mintel specializes in very detailed market information for marketers -- and Pets is just one of the many topics they cover. The pet ownership report is a whopping 136 pages of information and worth the price for any company that is dealing in pet products. I won't overwhelm you with all of the data, but I do think there were several key statistics that I think are important for rescues/shelters to know about pet ownership in the US -- and some things that I just found to be interesting.

All of the data here is from the Mintel report, but the commentary in the second sub-bullets is mine.

• Pet industry expenditures were an estimated $50.8 billion in 2011. 38% of this money will be spent on food, 22% on supplies and medicine, and 28% on veterinary care.
• Families with children are much more likely to have pets than families without children -- yet, the percentage of families without children is increasing in the US. However, pet ownership continues to grow, let in part by the number of young couples who are opting out of parenthood.
• 72.9 million US households report having at least one pet. 46.3 million own dogs, and 38.9 million own cats.  This represents 78.2 million owned dogs and 86.4 million owned cats.
• People with lower education levels (High School or some college) are more likely to own pets (64%) than more highly educated people (post graduate) at 56%.
• 62% of dog owners own only 1 dog. 26% own 2. 7% own 3 and 5% own 4 or more.
• For cats, 49% own 1, 29% own 2, 11% own 3 and 11% own 4 or more.
  • These two numbers are interesting as many cities in the US have pet limits that limit pet ownership to 2, 3 or 4 pets -- but there is an obvious demand for a significant percentage of pet owners to own more pets than that.
• 46% of US homes have a dog.  The age group most likely to own a dog is 18-24 year olds at 58%. Pet ownership remains pretty average for 25-54 year olds (49% for 25-34, 51% for 35-44 and 46% for 45-54) but then drops off considerably in older age groups (41% for 55-64 and 32% for 65+). The numbers are similarly skewed for cats. I find all of this interesting because
  • a) I feel like 18-24 year olds are more likely to be denied adoption by many rescue groups because of their age, the likelihood that they are renting, or the likelihood of something in their lives would make them seem less stable and thus more likely to return a pet -- and yet, they are more likely to ownn pets than any other age group.  
  • b) I think there are opportunities to increase pet ownership among older demographics who may be less likely to adopt because they no longer have kids or because the have concerns about who will care for a pet if something happens to them in their older age.

Where to people get their pets?

• 78% of dog owners own their own home. 18% rent. If we deny renters from adopting dogs we are essentially losing one-fifth of the total dog-owning market. For cats, 71% own and 26% rent.
• 30% of dog owners and 34% of cat owners got their pet from a shelter or rescue.
• 28% of dog owners, and 33% of cat owners got them from a friend or relative
• 15% of dog owners and 3% of cat owners go theier pet from a recognized breder
• 9% of dog owners and 4% of cat owners got them from a pet store
  • Pet stores continue to make up a very small percentage of pet acquisition and shelters and rescues are the leading source of pet acquisition.
• 34% of people with incomes less than $25k acquired their pet from someone else. This number is closer to 20% for all other income groups up to $100K+, where it drops to 16%.
  • I think this is extremely interesting. From talking with people who do urban core outreach in Kansas City, they say that most of the people they run across aquired their pet when a friend or relative could no longer take care of it, or they found it running loose in their neighborhood. These people tend to want to do best for the animal, and yet often, themselves, lack the resources to best care for them. It's just interesting that many people view poor people as poor pet owners, when many are simply trying to keep them from going to the shelter.

Breeds?

• Most cat owners don't really choose a cat by breed. But this is very different for dogs. 32% of dog owners said they knew in advance what breed of dog they wanted. 21% said they didn't choose because the dogwas given to them or chosen by somene else in the houeshold. 12% just browsed the selection and chose one they liked. 11% didn't know specifically what breed they wanted, but had an idea in mind and 10% didn't care about the breed, but knew the size of dog they wanted.
  • I think this is very interesting as 43% of people have a specific breed or an idea of a breed in mind before choosing a pet. 10% more are choosing based on size and 21% are not choosing at all because they just ended up with the dog. This can often be a challenge for small rescue groups to maintain the selection of breeds for different potential adopters.
• Men, and people aged 25-34, are most likely to have a specific breed of dog in mind.

Size?

• 52% of dog owners own a dog less than 25 lbs. This number is highest for people 55+ who own small dogs 58% of the time.
• 29% own dogs 26-50 lbs and 24% own dogs 51-75 lbs and 11% own dogs 75 lbs or more. Older people and low income people are much less likely to own large dogs because of their size and the cost to feed these dogs. Larger dogs are more likely to be owned by 25-54s, as this age group is generally active enough to provide for the exercise needs of a larger dog.

As members of the family?

• 76% of Americans consider their pet to be part of the family
• 54% consider themselves "pet parents' instead of "pet owners"
• 65% of dogs have free run of the house
• 53% of dogs sleep in their owners bedroom
• 21% are crated at night or when owners are away
• Only 8% of dogs are kept outside only.  However, this number is 16% in housholds that make less than $25k per year.
  • For all of the talk that about low-income pet owners being bad pet owners, this isn't supported by these numbers -- with 84% of even the lowest-income pet owners keeping pets inside the home (55% of this group have dogs with free-run over the home). While it's true that they are more likely to have outside-only dogs, they do still overwhelmingly keep them inside the home.

The impact of race on pet ownership

• While 46% of all households own dogs, this number is 51% for whites, 53% for hispanics and 24% for blacks.
• The same is true for cats, where 31% of households have cats, 36% for whites, 34% for hispanics and 14% for blacks.
• Blacks seem to be less likely to own pets because they are more likely to live in densely populated urban areas with less room for pets.
• Whites are more likely to own larger dogs than the other groups.
• Hispanics are more likely to enjoy the fun part of pet ownership-- they buy more toys for their pets, take more photographs and take their pet with them more often than other ethnic groups.

I'll likely refer back to these numbers fairly regularly as I have some things planned for trying to help increase adoptions -- but I definitely think you can see some opportunities here from these numbers.

Comments

[NoKillDelaware]

I agree with your point that there are opportunities to increase pet ownership among older demographics. I would add that seniors are good potential fosters, because it is a shorter term commitment. Also, since retirees may be home more, they are great for dogs and/or cats who need more attention. As for ownership, No Kill shelters should reach out to seniors and assure them that don't have to worry about their pet if something happens because he/she will be safe at the No Kill shelter and adopted to another good home.

[Christie Keith]

Brent, do you have any trends on this data? Is segment of pets obtained from shelters changing over time according to Mintel's research?

[Brent]

Christie -- unfortunately the report I have doesn't have any trend data for that statistic. They did say in the notes that successful promotion of homeless pets has increased adoptions, and that encouraging people to not buy from pet stores has caused that to go down too -- but it has no numbers to compare.

These numbers are fairly conistent with information from a 2009 Petsmart/Ipsos study (which Christie, I imagine you've seen) in which 8% were bought at a pet store, 21% of dogs from a purebred breeder (2% for cats), 19% came into a home as a stray (8% for dogs, 30% for cats), 24% from adoption and 25% from a family member.

More from that one here (for those who have not seen it):
http://btoellner.typepad.com/kcdogblog/2010/06/why-people-adopt-pets-vs-buy-vice-versa-research-from-petsmart-charities.html

[Lori]

I take issue with the rescues who deny people based on the excuse that someone might return a pet. If someone takes a pet and returns it later, that is sort of like fostering a pet and people should be encouraged to do that. I know rescue people who deny seniors also based on the guess that they might die someday and or be in some way unable to take care of their pets in the near future. I say let them have the dogs and cats and let them love them til they die and then find them new homes. Stop allowing animals to die
because of what if's that are not here yet..

[Ellena Linsky]

Thank you. I actually found some of this information comforting.

[Brent]

Lori -- I agree completely. Planning on all the "what ifs" is just going to cause a lot of denied adoptions.

[Liz]

Is there any information broken down by region of the country? I live in the south and I see dogs chained out everywhere ALL the time, so I am sure the number of pets that are not allowed indoors is much higher here. Is it possible that this study did not include some groups due to them not participating in it?

[Joni]

"52% of dog owners own a dog less than 25 lbs."

Most of the dogs being killed in animal shelters are larger than 25 pounds. Is there enough people willing to adopt for all these larger dogs if 52% or more people want small dogs?

[Brent]

Liz -- there is very little info in the study broken down by region of the country. % pet ownership (where the south is higher than other regions) is about it. There is always a possibility of sample bias in any study, but Mintel is better than most about keeping it in check.

Joni -- I found that very interesting too, along with the reality that most people searching for dog have a breed, or size of dog, in mind before getting one.

It's no secret that large dogs are more likely to end up in shelters (in part because they're more likely to be outside dogs and escape, more able to jump fences, more likely to be relinquished because behavioral problems in small dogs are easier to manage, etc). I'm looking into some more data on shelter populations to see if I can come up with something concrete about % of animals in shelters by size. It may just SEEM that there are more large dogs in the shelter because small dogs are adopted more quickly, but there may be some truth to it also...more to come.

[Joni]

"According to the No Kill Advocacy Center, data shows that every year there are six times more people looking to acquire an animal than there are animals being killed in shelters."

http://www.niagarafallsreporter.com/Stories/2012/Aug21/FarinaSPCA.html

I know that there are more and more shelters that have achieved the 90% or higher save rate and I hope many, many, more join them and fast.

But I am worried that many people that may consider the adoption option might just want small dogs, specially small female dogs. We receive more adoption apps on female dogs than on male dogs and I read that this is common.

Can more people be convinced into adopting the larger dogs, which seem to be the majority of dogs that are being killed in large numbers in many of our U.S. animal shelters?

And how many of these adoptions are sticking? Meaning how many of the shelter animals getting adopted find a home for life? What is the return rate? Is the return rate higher for larger dogs?

Yes, I know, too many questions. :(

[Brent]

Joni -- good thoughts on all and agree with you. No question that the number of dogs in shelters is much less than the number of people looking for dogs every year. However, not all dogs are interchangable with each other. I think most shelters pretty much could adopt "small fluffies" all day long every day of the week. We sometimes have waiting lists. But converting someone from a "small fluffy" to an 80 lbs dog is a tough challenge. There is a bit of a supply/demand issue disconnect.

The numbers probably still in the favor of the shelter, and many shelters are proving that to be the case, but I do think bigger dogs present a bigger challenge for shelters -- and these numbers do show why.

[Laurie Ellis]

Thank you very much for this information. I am gathering pet owner demographics in order to create a business plan for my art designs.

I specialize in animals. I have been to many sites and yours is the most thorough.

I was hoping to find information specifically in Oregon for a start off point, but have not been able to do so thus far.

As per my nature, I noticed several typos, but found your site very interesting and informative. Thank you again.

[Ella]

Thank you for your info...I found it very interesting. I do agree, it would be nice to see the breakdown by region. Thanks again! EV

[Jhante]

Thanks -- excellent compilation of data!

[MIke]

We should be spending our time philosophizing about how to help children, not making pets in to children, and not humanizing the plight of the pet. Lion and Tigers and Bears (oh my) are not people. People are harder to interact with which is why so many take the easy way out and spend all their time worrying about FIDO.
Let's spend our time and resources worrying about kids here in the US. Let's spend our MONEY on outreach and placement for ORPHANS, let the older folks reach out and be reached not by Sarah Mclaughlin concerts but by people trying to save them, not a cat.
The world is about choices, anyone who chooses to spend 50 bucks a month on dog food when their kids don't have shoes is a fool,
they should be told they are foolish and should be treated as a fool. The hard choice is to not save the dog, because it will impact the family's food budget. This is a hard choice to make, but easy to conceive.
The problem is, poor people often have poor cognitive skills, they can't conceive the whole of such a hard choice as easy as it seems, so they often make choices that ensure the next generation will not have any better chances. Everyone....EVERYONE wants to push evolution, evolution, evolution, science, science, science.....then they want to ingore it and say that there is no difference in the cognitive abilities of the poor and the rest of society. Look at the Data, no matter how unpleasant it gape onto the real numbers. Cognitive ability more than anything determines the scope of a persons ability to sense the possible long range outcomes decisons...thats right, IQ. You can't change IQ, but you can, with training, support and socialization teach people to be more cautious about their decisions and the process they use to make decisions. Lets help KIDS have better nutrition and therefore develop better cognitively, Turn the rescue shelter into an after school program for kids. You all will shovel dog poop at the shelter and stay up all night saving a kitten, but would you pick up and hug a smelly kid with lice?

[Brent]

Mike, it seems feasible to me that as a society we should have compassion for all living beings. Being compassionate toward one species does not preclude you from being compassionate toward another and in fact, studies suggest that pet ownership helps with building compassion.

[Jessica]

Thank you for the summary of the Mintel Report. It's very interesting. Do you know where I can get a copy of the report?

[Brent]

You would have to go to Mintel's website and purchase from them....and it's not a terribly cheap report.

[Liam]

I like it

[Sam Goody]

Where do you get your data from? I don't see any citations for the statistics you are quoting.

[Brent]

Sam -- the source is noted in the first sentence of the 2nd paragraph.

[Regina]

Brent, do you have any statistic showing the percentage of adopted pets were returned back to the shelter/rescue organization within a year?

[Karen]

I would love the demographics on the kind of people (education in particular)who spay/neuter. I think information would show higher levels of education mean higher percentages of population control for homeless dogs

[Mindy Moody]

Pet sitters can post their profiles, including a photograph, range of abilities, area and other helpful data, which would then be able to be seen by those searching for a pet sitters, feline sitters, pooch walkers and so on. Those trying to utilize somebody would then be able to contact the pet sitter straightforwardly through the email or contact shape.https://www.petlove.love

[Chet Nar]

Hello, this is really useful information for a class project of mine. Do you have the citation to the Mintel study? Thanks!