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Positive about pets....

 

Did you know.......

 

Nearly half of all households in the UK (across all social,economic and age groups)own pets (1).

 

In 2009 the percentage of the population owning a pet in the UK including:

 

- 31 % Dogs (8 million households) (2)

 - 26% Cats (6.7 million households) (2)

- 14% Fish (4 million households) (1)

 

A wide variety of pets are owned in the UK, at least:

 

                           - 10.5million dogs (2)

                           - 10.3million cats (2)

                           - 100 million fish (including indoor and outdoor fish)(3)

                           - 7 million reptiles and amphibians (4)

                           - 2.3 million small mammals (including rabbits, guinea pigs and hamsters)

                           - 1.6 million birds (including aviary, poultry and pigeons) (1)

                           - 2.7 million others (1)

 

       In total there are more than 125 million pets in the UK!

 

 

The benefits of owning a pet:

 

To the country:

                               Employment:  Latest figures show there are nearly 50,000 people working in the pet care sector (5)

 

                               Spending:  Pet owners spend an average £87 million a week on pet care.  That’s nearly £4.7bn per                                                    annum turnover, which nets the (6) government nearly £1.6 billion per annum in tax (8) (or                                                 £15.3bn over an economic cycle (7))

 

                               Savings: Owning pets saves the NHS £1.4 billion a year.  That’s a saving of almost £13 billion in an                                                                                                                                      economic cycle (10)

 

To the individual:

                              Pet owning pensioners make up to 21% fewer visits to the doctor (12)

 

                              Dog owners make 8 per cent and cat owners 12% fewer visits to the doctor than non pet owning                                       people (13)

 

                              Children from households with pets have stronger immune systems and take fewer days off sick from                                 school, receiving up to 18 extra half-days schooling per year (14)

 

                              Exposure to pets in the first year of life lowers the prevalence of allergic rhinitis and asthma in school                                  children (15)

 

                              Pet ownership is associated with lower levels of stress (16)

 

                              Pet owners have lower blood pressure, triglyceride and cholesterol than non-owners, which cannot be                                attributed to differences such as cigarette smoking, diet, weight or socio-economic profile (17)

 

These examples alone (tax and NHS savings), put the economic value of pet ownership to the Exchequer at more than £3.1bn a year or £28bn over an economic cycle. This is equivalent to nearly 1p on the basic rate of income tax! (11)

 

References:

 

[1] http://www.pfma.org.uk/overall/pet-population-figures-.htm

[2] http://veterinaryrecord.bvapublications.com/cgi/content/abstract/166/6/163[3] OATA survey (unpublished)

[4] pers. comm. Chris Newman, REPTA

[7] Assumed to be 9 years: rounding errors may occur in multiplications)

[12] Siegel, J. M. Stressful life events and use of physician services among the elderly: The moderating role of pet ownership. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 1990

[13]Jennings G. L: Animals and Cardiovascular Health - paper presented at the 7th International Conference on Human-Animal Interactions, Animals, Health and Quality of Life, Geneva, Switzerland, September 1995.

[14] McNicholas, J – University of Warwick, 2002

[15] Hesselmar, B – Does early exposure to a cat or dog protect against later allergies developing, 1999.

[16] Allen, K, Blascovich J, Mendes W: Cardiovascular reactivity and the presence of pets, friends and spouses. The truth about cats and dogs. Psychosomatic Medicine 64, 2002

[17] Anderson W: Does pet ownership reduce your risk for heart disease? Baker Medical Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia. Originally published in InterActions, Vol. 10, No. 3,, pp 12-13, 1992