Pet Industry: Why isn’t £63 million being donated to animal shelters every year?

Pet Industry: Why isn’t £63 million being donated to shelters every year?

 

 

We’re not blindsighted to the sheer volume of animals in shelters nor the amount of money spent on caring for pets.

 

But where does the money from the multi-billion pound industry go and why are shelters still stretched by monetary budgets?

 

At any one time, there are an estimated 100,000 dogs without homes in the UK. There are too many cats to count, but at least as many cats if not more is predicted. That estimation alone should be enough to convince anyone that there are way too many! (1)

 

We intend to continue building initiatives that benefit animals by giving back, here’s the why and the how...

 

The Pet Facts

 

Data from 2019 shows there are approximately 9 million dogs and 8 million cats in the UK.

 

6.6 million households in the UK have dogs.

 

24% of these have more than one dog. (2)

 

4.9 million households in the UK have cats.

 

Therefore, there are 11.5 million households in the UK that have either a cat or dog, or both.

 

The average pet owner will spend £95 per month on pet supplies. (3)

 

The Shelter Facts

 

The RSPCA reports 1,218,364 phone calls were made in 2019 across England and Wales requesting help for animals. That’s one every 30 seconds!

 

That year they took in 10,564 dogs and 29,432 cats into their shelters. (That’s just four animals less than 40,000!)

 

39,178 animals found homes that year - including horses, rabbits and everything in between! (4)

 

Non-profit organisations rely on public donations to continue caring for animals that remain in their care and save others.

 

Money in the Pet Industry

 

In 2017 the pet market was valued at £6.5 billion. A prediction however has been made that by 2021, this would rise to £7 billion.

 

This accounts for 1.8% of the whole UK retail market. (5)

 

60% of millennials say they buy jackets, sweaters, and other clothes for their pets - with an ever increasing number making efforts to keep up with trends for pets!

 

However, dry dog food still dominates the pet market. (6)

 

With pet food remaining the highest contribution, luxury items are still continually growing in popularity as are grooming, boarding and training as more and more households refer to their animals as part of the family. 

 

 

 

How can we do more?

 

From the above statistics we know that:

 

There are millions of households spending money on their pets every month

Shelters still struggle to afford to care for the volume of animals coming through their doors

Generally, the profits are being recycled back into the pet industry

There is definitely room for the smallest percentage of this to make the biggest difference
 

 

Here’s what we’re thinking:

 

11.5 million households have pets.

 

On average, a household spends £95 per month on their pets.

 

Let's say that because this is an average, half of these people spend this much.

 

-       That's 5.75 million households spend £95 per month.

 

Then let's assume that half of these people could take on another pet (the other half being those who have small children, have an unsociable pet or have many other commitments)

 

-       So that's possibly 2.8 million households could adopt an additional rescue animal

 

Considering there’s around 200,000 cats and dogs in need of a home, they could potentially be rescued 14 times over!

 

Furthermore, if 2.8 million households spent £95 per month, that equates to £266 million...per month.

 

If at least 2% of that total was donated back to shelters, that then equates to just over £5.3 million every month!

 

Or £63.6 million every year! (Can you actually imagine what a difference that would make!!??)

 

Ok, so this is a very ‘ideal world’ scenario. That said, even if this is only half right and 'only' £2.65 million was donated each month…that’s still pretty incredible really!

 

There's also the fact that not all 2.8 million households are going to shop with retailers that donate a share back to shelters. We do of course recognise that some exisiting pet brands and retailers have their own ways of helping and donating and that's great- the more the merrier! But the point is that with enough people behind initiatives like we're proposing, huge, huge things can be achieved.

 

Ultimately, consumer awareness is key. The more pet owners shopping consciously, because donations are made to aid animals in shelters, the more retailers and manufacturers have to follow. Our world has never needed new and fresh initiatives more than it does now and we want to make sure that as we adapt, animals don't get left behind. Small changes that you can make now, will make huge positive changes for animals now and in the future.

 

The opportunities to facilitate positive change are endless and this is where we’ve chosen to start our long road to helping to resolve the problem.

To read more about our plan, check out our 'About Us' page here- About Us

 

References

(1)  https://www.peta.org.uk/issues/animals-not-abuse/homelessness/

(2)  https://www.dogstrustdogschool.org.uk/facts-and-figures/

(3)  https://groomarts.com/student-advice/marketing-insights

(4)  https://www.rspca.org.uk/whatwedo/latest/facts

(5)  https://www.diyweek.net/value-of-uk-pet-market-set-to-hit-7billion-by-2021#:~:text=A%20study%20carried%20out%20for,7billion%20forecast%20for%202020%2D21.

(6)  https://petpedia.co/pet-industry-statistics/

 

Conjecture based on the above averages and surveys.