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Curious cat in Frankfurt am Main
Photo: Frank Rumpenhorst/dpa
"Even fine people want to free themselves from compulsion and would love to be kittens," sing the cats in the Disney film "Aristocats".
And if you don't want to be a kitten right away, you might want to keep at least one thing: cats were the most popular pets in Germany in 2021 as well.
A total of 16.7 million house cats lived in Germany, and 26 percent of German households had at least one specimen.
This is announced by the Industry Association for Pet Supplies (IVH) and the Central Association of Zoological Specialists in Germany (ZZF).
Animals in almost every second household
Dogs came second with 10.3 million in 21 percent of households.
Small animals such as rabbits or guinea pigs as well as ornamental birds and fish are also popular.
In total, 47 percent of all German households had pets in 2021.
According to the information, the market research institute Skopos interviewed 7,000 people by telephone on behalf of IVH and ZZF for the survey.
"In times of working from home and limited contacts, people spent a lot of time with their pets," said ZZF President Norbert Holthenrich.
According to this, people in Germany bought cats in particular during the corona pandemic.
»The need to live together with small animals, ornamental birds, ornamental fish and terrarium animals continues unabated.«
The high number of pets is reflected in the turnover of the German pet industry: in 2021, the companies in the stationary trade generated a total turnover of almost 4.8 billion euros, an increase of six percent compared to the previous year.
In addition, there was a turnover of around one billion euros in online trading and a further 162 million euros for wild bird feed.
The total turnover was thus around six billion euros.
ptz/AFP/dpa