The Facts And Statistics On Companion Animals In Canada

This online survey of companion animal owners and non-owners across Canada was conducted to provide a source of reliable statistics to help legislators in their efforts to develop urban animal strategies that create and sustain healthy communities for companion animals and people in Canada.

A total of 56% of Canadian households have at least one dog or cat. Most of the companion animal-owning respondents reported having cats only (23%), or dogs only (20%), while 13% had both species. Fish are found in 12% of homes, birds 5%, and rabbits and hamsters in only 2%. Only 1% of homes have lizards, horses, guinea pigs, snakes, frogs, turtles, ferrets, or gerbils. Ownership of any other type of companion animal was less than 1%.

The following are the main reasons that the 45% of Canadian households that do not have dogs or cats give for not having such companion animals:

• I don’t want the responsibility/just don’t want one (58%)
• I travel too much / they don’t fit my lifestyle (41%)
• Health reasons (22%)
• Cost/too expensive (22%)
• Building that I live in doesn’t allow companion animals (12%)

Other major findings:

• The average Canadian companion animal has been with their family for almost five years. Another 20% have been owned for 10+ years.
• 50% of cats and 22% of dogs have not been to a veterinarian in the past 12 months.
• 79% of all cats and 69% of all dogs have been spayed or neutered.
• Less than 24% of cats are obtained from “reputable” sources: breeders (5%), animal shelters (17%) or veterinarians (2%). The average price for a cat was $53.
• Almost half of all dogs are obtained from reputable sources: breeders (35%), animal shelters (13%), or veterinarians (<1%). About 10% of dogs were purchased from companion animal stores. The average purchase price for a dog was $286.