Italian families love cats and dogs

It appears that 39% of Italian families, approximately 20.3 million people, have a cat or a dog. As mentioned above, there seems to be a greater preference for dogs. 5.9 million families (27.1%) own dogs while approximately 4 million families  (18.3%) own cats. There is a greater concentration of pets in North-East Italy, where these percentages have increased from 38.8% to 46.4%. Percentages of ownership are lower in North-West Italy, equivalent to 34.9%.

Italians and their pets

Living with pets comes with responsibilities. Fortunately, animals in Italian families appear to be well-protected. There is still progress to be made, but different awareness campaigns and the good example of principled owners contribute to reducing the percentage of people that still underestimate the importance of taking care of their pets.

According to the DOXA study on “Italians and Pets”, which explored the main aspects that attribute to the responsible ownership of cats and dogs in Italy, pet owners in Italy show a great sense of responsibility and dedication towards pets, but more efforts need to be made towards their well-mannered co-existence in society.

As for the rest, in Italy, 90% of owners register their dogs in the regional registry for pets. Nutritional needs are attended to carefully: 76.1% of dogs and 90% of cats are fed manufactured pet foods, specifically formulated to ensure a safe, healthy and balanced diet, differentiated on the basis of age, race and lifestyle.  And to ensure a good state of health, most pet owners bring their pet to the vet at least once a year for a check-up.

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