Last year there were 34 mio (previous year: 34.4 mio) dogs, cats, small animals and cage birds in Germany, along with a large number of ornamental fish and reptiles, which were not recorded. The percentage of German households with pets remained the same as in the previous year at 45 per cent. 61 per cent (previous year: 63 per cent) of all families with children in Germany owned a pet. The proportion of households with at least two pets declined sharply from 22 to 15 per cent. These figures were gathered by the IVH and ZZF from a survey of 7 000 households.
Cats topped the list, with 14.7 mio felines in 23 per cent of households (previous year: 14.8 mio cats, 23 per cent of households). In second place came dogs at 10.1 mio (previous year: 9.4 mio) in 20 per cent (previous year: 19 per cent) of households. Small animals followed with 5.2 mio (previous year: 5.4 mio) in 5 per cent (previous year: 6 per cent) of households. The number of cage birds fell to 4 mio (previous year: 4.8 mio), but the number of households remained the same at four per cent.
