AVMA unleashes pet ownership statistics

Schaumburg, Ill. - 12/11/07 - More dog owners than cat owners exist in the U.S. but more cats than dogs live in homes. Nearly half of those pet owners consider their animals family members, and on average, spent $366 per household on veterinary care in 2006.

Those statistics come from the American Veterinary Medical Association's (AVMA) 2007 edition of the "U.S. Pet Ownership & Demographic Sourcebook," released today.

The report sheds light on long-term market and consumer trends and is billed by AVMA as the most statistically accurate and complete survey of U.S. pet owners and pet population demographics. Its market research statistics reportedly are drawn from a national survey of more than 47,000 American households. The results are compared to similar AVMA surveys dating back to 1987.

"Veterinarians aren't the only ones who will find this data interesting," AVMA President Dr. Gregory Hammer says in a news release. "In fact, the data is considered so important that even the U.S. Census Bureau cites our statistics."