All right, I’ll take some of your pet questions.
Yes, the lady in the back of the room may go first.
Q. I’m hoping you might be able to help me with some research I’m doing for my daughter who has a paper due this fall. I’m looking for a statistical portrait of dogs, including information on the total number of dogs in the United States, how people acquire their dogs, how many dogs are euthanized, how many are in shelters and so on. I’m also interested in any studies that might shed some light on the emotional relationship between dogs and their owners. Thank you.
A. Well, let’s see. According to an American Veterinary Medical Association report in the late 1990s, there are an estimated 53 million dogs in the U.S.—compared with 59 million cats, for those who demand equal time for felines—up about 1 percent over the number of dogs counted in the previous decade.
As minute as this increase might seem, it is quite significant, since the number of American homes that these canines inhabit declined from 35 million in the mid-1980s to 31 million in the mid-1990s. Figures for the last decade have rebounded slightly.
Pooches were able to keep their population high partly because between 1987 and 2017, the number of dogs per household increased from 1.5 to 1.7.
And according to a survey of 1,000 pet owners by St. Louis-based Ralston Purina, 39 percent of dogs are obtained from family, friends and neighbors, another 25 percent come from a breeder and 15 percent from an animal shelter.
Eight percent of Americans buy their pups from a pet store, 5 percent are picked up as strays and 2 percent come from a local rescue group.
I hope that information is useful. Yes, the man in the turban at the window. What’s your question?
Q. Yes, if I may. Do all dogs at the shelters in the U.S. find nice homes? What happens to these animals by and large?
A., Actually, not all dogs find nice homes, as you would imagine. According to research conducted by Animal People newspaper, at any given time, an estimated 5,000 dog pounds nationwide house roughly 87,000 dogs. About one-third of dogs at shelters will be euthanized (1.5 million hounds are put to sleep at shelters each year), another third will be reclaimed by their original owners and the remaining third will find homes with new families—families that we hope will not dress them in clothes.
Now, the lady in the wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses—what’s your question?
Q. I was just wondering, what are the main reasons people give up their dogs in the first place?
A. Well, that’s a tough one. I really don’t have any idea. But I would venture to guess that some of the reasons are moving, landlord issues, cost of pet maintenance, no time for the pet, inadequate facilities, too many pets at home, pet illness, and even personal problems—that’s right, sometimes people break up with their spouses or lovers and get rid of the pet just to get even…And there’s the biting issue. A bite here and a nip there and the first thing you know, Old Bowser is sent off to the pound.
Yes, over in the balcony, the man with the cane and the seeing-eye-canine. What is it, sir?
Q. Forgive me, but I am more interested in the treatment of animals by their owners. Could you give me an idea of just how many people take time out every day to do things with their pets? Hug them? Play with them? Feed them? Take them on trips…?
A. Oh, I see. Yes, well. I would say that approximately 95 percent of pet owners probably hug their dogs daily—about 45 percent of dogs are taken on vacation with their owners, while about 43 percent celebrate their dog’s birthday. Some 35 percent of pet owners take their dogs shopping at the pet store, things like that. And19 percent have taken their dogs to work with them, but only 16 percent have taken their dog to a store/restaurant/bar.
Thank you so much.
I’m sorry. That’s all the time we have for today. If you have other questions, please send them to us. Thank you all for coming.
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Top o’ the morning!