Japanese (Public Opinion) And Companion Animal1997

The Asahi Shimbun (Japanese newspaper) conducted a face to face survey on the Japanese public opinion about companion animals. The survey was done on June 8 and 9, 1997, for 3,000 respondents and received viable responses from 2,248. According to this survey, 39% of respondents had companion animals in their home, and of those who didn’t, 24% would have a companion animal if they had the chance.

According to the results of this survey, 37% of respondents think of their companion animal as a “cute friend,” followed closely by the “support of a soul” (25%), and then a “nuisance” (12%). The good point of a companion animal was noted as “gives charm and relief in life” by 36% of respondents, “gives children tender heart and imagination” (19%) and “good gatekeeper” (11%). The biggest companion animal-related problems cited were “bad manners of owners” (40%), “noise and smells” (19%), and “brings parasites and epidemics” / “many people are not sympathetic about companion animals” (both 11%).

42% consider it to be the “trouble of (the) neighbor” when they see a person feeding a homeless cat everyday, while 38% consider this to be a “tender” act, and 10% consider this to be nothing special.

39% of those surveyed have companion animals in their home, and of those who did not have a companion animals, 24% would have one if they had a chance. 65% of respondents would prefer a dog, while 15% would prefer a cat, 10% would have both, and 8% would have neither.

The most common companion animals were:

• Dog (21%)
• Cat (10%)
• Rabbit, squirrel, or hamster (4%)
• Bird (5%)
• Tortoise, snake, etc. (1%)
• Fish (7%)
• Others (1%)