The upkeep price of a pet is just not a chief purpose why the pet could be deserted in Mexico, in keeping with a Mars Petcare examine, “Index of Homeless Pets,” revealed in October 2022. The examine included 9 international locations, however solely Mexico outcomes are at present accessible.
4 of 10 (40%) of 346 canine homeowners who left their canines on the street did so due to lack of time and poor dedication, the examine confirmed, whereas 32% of respondents mentioned they deserted their canines due to a small residing area and 23% did so owing to aggressive or mischievous conduct. Solely 10% of the respondents mentioned the price of pet meals and veterinary care was the rationale behind their choice.
The examine reported that cat homeowners who deserted their pets did so for a similar causes as canine homeowners.
Tens of millions of avenue pets not fed industrial pet meals
In line with authorities figures, there’s a whole inhabitants of 43.7 million canines and 16.2 million cats in Mexico. But, Triplethree Worldwide estimates the variety of animals residing within the streets may attain as excessive as 20 million canines and 6.8 million cats.
With such giant numbers of homeless canines and cats, the pet meals market faces structural restraints associated to the choices of tens of millions of pet homeowners who usually are not accountable for his or her pets.
Trade leaders comparable to Mars Petcare assist and encourage pet adoption, together with by way of campaigns that present meals to shelters that rescue deserted pets. Nonetheless, as cash is just not the primary purpose for abandoning a pet—reasonably, it’s usually the proprietor’s lack of dedication or accessible residing area—there’s little the trade can do to encourage pet adoption.
Causes for pet abandonment won’t probably change
The examine performed by Mars Petcare is crucial to know the way forward for the pet meals trade in Mexico and worldwide. As it’s not foreseeable to see residing areas enhancing within the coming years, a lower in pet abandonment charges relies on growing pet humanization: convincing pet homeowners to cease abandoning canines and cats within the streets.
On this context, pet meals producers could also be simpler in educating pet homeowners to keep away from pet abandonment than selling pet adoptions. As pet abandonment diminishes, the pet meals trade will profit.
