Welcome, which pets do you want to buy?

There are 48 million people in Spain, but they are not the only creatures living in our country: we also find about 29 million pets. according to the census carried out by National Association of Pet Food Manufacturers (ANFAAC) and Veterinary, more than 9 million dogs, 6 million cats, 7 million fish and 5 million birds living with people.

While the trend towards pet ownership has increased in the last decade, since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the rise of lockdowns, new remote work dynamics and companies dog friendly, number of pets increased by 44%. As predicted in Europe about 90 million households – ie 46% of the total – have at least one pet.

Costs are not trivial: According to one of the recent studies conducted by Tiendanimala family spends approximately one budget 1,200 Euro per year for your pets. Last year, Spaniards spent about 1,500 million euros on the care of their pets, according to ANFAAC. Occupied the biggest expense dogsCats followed with over €900,000 million, €575,000 million.

The industry does not stop its growth: between 2020 and 2021 alone, its turnover increased by over 100,000 million euros. When the benefits of Spanish companies producing pet food are added to this, exporting more than 30% of the global market value and generate approximately 1,700 direct jobs.

Four legs, a few bills

According to research done by store animal, 19% of those who have pets at home obtained at least one of their pets from the breeder; 16% when purchased from a store and 15% when purchased from an individual. In other words, 1 in 2 people claimed to buy at least one of their pets rather than owning them. A figure that has increased significantly: in 2018 these three groups represented 31%.

The increase in purebred pet intake post-pandemic is similar to before. boom it was in the nineties. In fact, around 70,000 pedigree dogs are born in Spain each year (i.e. with official document confirming their ancestry and therefore the purity of their breed). Nevertheless, Royal Canine Society of Spain “recommends never going to a puppy factory or farm (also dog grinders anyone dog farm)”, Because of these busy dog ​​breeders are illegal That’s why imported puppies usually come from Eastern Europe.”

About 70,000 pedigree dogs are born in Spain each year

Curiously, this increase in numbers did not increase the abandonment numbers (and this despite the fact that about 460 dogs are abandoned daily in Spain). Affinity Foundation). So these numbers have been falling since 2008, but school dropout is still a problem to deal with: In 2019 alone, the protective communities collected more than 306,000 animals. (moreover, the numbers skyrocket, especially during the summer holidays).

as stated by Abandonment and Adoption Study 2022 From the Affinity Foundation, 21% of the underlying causes of abandonment are due to unwanted garbage.. Namely: lack of birth control can lead to animals being left on the street, unable to get food or veterinary care, victims of abuse or accidents, contracting diseases and even death (as a result, overcrowding in unwanted reception centres). For these reasons, the Foundation, among other things,Think before owning a pet and preferably choose adoption.

Options are not scarce: there are more than 1,500 reception centers in Spain and some platforms, for example miwuki They are responsible for putting guardians in touch with potential adopters. Organizations such as the Foundation for Advice and Action in the Defense of Animals (FAADA), makes it easy for individuals to identify and sterilize their animalsfor example, as in the case responsible partnerHeld in Catalonia and Madrid.

In Spain, pets are considered ‘sensitive beings’, and despite a growing awareness of animals, 12% of pet abandonment is still due to ‘losing interest in the animal’. Currently in the middle of an argument new Animal Welfare ActIt still seems necessary to raise awareness that pets are “not things, whims or toys”, as Royal Canine Society president José Miguel Doval argues, and that their care and well-being “requires time, affection and money”. “.