For second straight year, pet cats outnumber dogs in Japan

Tokyo, Dec 26: The felines have outnumbered the canines as pet animals in Japan for the second successive year in 2018, the Japan Pet Food Association said on Tuesday, December 25, the Japan Times reported.

It was in 2017 that the number of pet cats became more than that of the dogs for the first time ever in the country and they have extended their lead this year as well. According to the association, the estimated number of pet dogs in Japan went down by 17,000 from the previous year to 8,903,000. The number of cats, on the other hand, has increased by 123,000 to 9,649,000.

The Japan Times quoted an official as saying that cats are more fuss-free than dogs and that the number of pet dogs is expected to go down more.

The Pet Food Association, comprising 85 members, includes makers of pet food and it started gathering statistics in 1994. The latest survey is based on responses submitted online by 50,000 people aged between 20 and 79 across Japan, the newspaper report added.