DOGS

In 2008, the UK dog population is 7.3 million

This is broken down into 75% pedigree, 11% Cross Breeds and 14% Mixed Breeds. There are 209 breeds of dog recognised by the Kennel Club. To view the top 10 dog breeds in the UK please click here.

The main source in which owners aquire their dogs are a:

Rescue Centre: 32%
Friend/acquiantance: 25%
Recommended Breeder: 16%
Private Ad: 16%
Internet: 8%
Pet Shop: 7%

To view more on ownership trends please click here.

CATS

In 2008 the UK Cat population is 7.2 million

92% of cats are moggies or 'non pedigree'

There are around 35-40 breeds of cat recognised by the Feline Advisory Bureau. For the top 5 cats breeds in the UK click here.

The main reasons people keep cats as pets are for:

Companionship: 27%
Love: 31%
Easy maintainance: 7%
Gets on with other species: 3%

To view more on pet ownership trends click here.

PET OWNING HOUSEHOLDS

In the UK, almost 1 in 2 households own a pet
(43% = 11.2M), with a total 27 million pets owned.

In 2008 the percentage of the population owning a pet in the UK were broken down as follows;


Dog: 22% (5.7 million households)
Cat: 18% (4.8 million households)
Rabbits: 2.8% (0.7 million households)
Indoor Birds: 2.4% (0.6 million households)
Hamster: 1.7% (0.4 million households)
Snakes: 0.4% (0.1 million households)
Gerbils: 0.3% (0.1 million households)
Tortoises/turtles: 0.3% (0.1 million households)
Rats: 0.3% (0.1 million households)
Lizards: 0.2% (0.05 million households)
Insect groups: 0.2% (0.05 million households)