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Did You Know That?

Pet Ownership Statistics

(These statistics are taken from the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association 2001-2002 National Pet Owners Survey and the Humane Society of the United States web site at http://www.hsus.org/ace/11831.)

Dogs

There are approximately 68 million dogs in the United States.

Four in ten (or 40 million) U.S. households own at least one dog.

Most owners (63%) have one dog.

On average, owners have 1.7 dogs.

Only 20% of owned dogs were adopted from an animal shelter.

Seven out of ten owned dogs are spayed or neutered.

Cats

There are approximately 73 million owned cats in the United States.

Three in ten (or 34.7 million) U.S. households own at least one cat.

One half (49%) of cat-owning households have one cat; the remaining have two or more.

On average, owners have 2.1 cats.

Only 20% of owned cats were adopted from an animal shelter.

Eight of ten owned cats are spayed or neutered.

Pet Overpopulation Estimates

(These statistics are taken from the Humane Society of the United States web site at http://www.hsus.org/ace/11830).

8 – 10 million cats and dogs enter U.S. shelters each year.

4-5 million cats and dogs are euthanized by shelters each year.

3-5 million cats and dogs are adopted from shelters each year.

Only 15-30% of dogs and 2-5% of cats entering shelters each year are reclaimed by owners.

Approximately 25% of dogs in shelters are purebred.

A fertile cat can produce 3 litters in one year.  Each litter has an average of 4-6 kittens.  In 7 years, one female cat and her offspring can theoretically produce 420,000 cats.

A fertile dog can produce 2 litters per year.  Each litter has an average of 6-10 puppies.  In 6 years, one female dog and her offspring can theoretically produce 67,000 dogs.

Pet Care

Puppies who have graduated from socialization classes are less than half as likely to returned to a shelter as puppies who have not had socialization classes.

A recent study found that aggression between cats decreased significantly after they had lived together for more than eight months.

Vegetarians

Vegetarians have lower rates of cancer, less heart disease, lower blood pressure, less diabetes, fewer gallstones, fewer kidney stones and less weight problems than non-vegetarians.

Vegans are vegetarians who, in addition to not eating meat, do not eat any other animal products, i.e. eggs or dairy.  Being vegan appears to offer even greater health benefits than those enjoyed by non-vegan vegetarians.

The reasons for the health benefits of vegetarian diets are probably multifactorial and include less total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol and protein in the diet and more dietary fiber, antioxidants and phytochemicals.

Studies indicate that very-low-fat vegetarian diets, combined with exercise and relaxation exercises, can reverse established coronary artery (heart) disease.