Veterinary Pet Insurance recognised National Pet Parents Day on April 30 (the last Sunday in April) as a means to honour responsible pet parents and their furry children. We concur that it’s unfair that pet parents don’t get to celebrate Mother’s- and Father’s Days, but have no fear: there’s a whole other holiday just for you! It’s the perfect time to buy your companion a new toy, take them to the dog park, or spend the day giving them a checkup and grooming to ensure their health and happiness.
The background of National Pet Parents Day
Pet owners have been around nearly as long as our species. Wolves were the earliest domesticated animals, around 10,000 BCE. Early humans discovered that wolf pups that had been separated from their mothers and trained made excellent companions, thus giving rise to selective breeding and pet ownership. While some cultures appreciated the companionship of canines, others favoured cats and even revered and considered them spiritual.
As humans transitioned from hunting and gathering to cultivation around 6000 BCE, there was another increase in pet ownership. During this time period, there is evidence of working dogs coexisting with other domesticated animals on farms, while cats captured rodents and coexisted symbiotically with the other animals. The end of our hunter-gatherer nomadism was a significant step forward for the practise of pet ownership, even though it was not precisely as we know it today.
The earliest evidence of canines as fashionable companions dates back to the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Noble gentlemen found dogs useful for hunting, falcons were kept as pets, and women came to enjoy keeping lapdogs inside their homes. In this era, canines became a status symbol in addition to their utilitarian value.
The Victorian era was comparable to the thirteenth century in terms of companion ownership. Pets were a prestige symbol for wealthy lords and ladies who took them on hunting expeditions and kept them on their laps while reading. Some consider the 1800s to be the beginning of modern pet ownership, as it was not until then that pet ownership spread beyond the upper classes. During this period, pet ownership became a symbol of man’s dominance over nature.
Today, it is nearly impossible to locate someone who does not own a pet; so many of us are pet owners! 57% of U.S. households have at least one companion in 2019, according to the companion Ownership Statistics by Wise Voter. That’s roughly 85 million households. People in the modern era frequently have pets for reasons other than companionship, including emotional support, assistance with disabilities, and rehabilitation! Some popular pets have appeared in films and television programmes and are widely adored. Possession of a pet has come a long way!
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5 FUN FACTS ABOUT PET PARENTS
Some canines have been observed to pretend to be ill in order to receive more attention from their owners.
In 2015, pet owners spent more than $60 billion, according to the American Pet Products Association.
In April 2020, there was a 335% increase in Google queries for ‘adopt a pet’; this indicates that since the start of the pandemic, many more people were interested in adopting pets.
73% of dog owners and 81% of cat owners share their beds with their pets, according to a survey.
According to a survey conducted by the American Pet Products Association in 2015–2016, there are over 80 million pet-owning households in the United States, and this figure is expected to have increased.
NATIONAL PET PARENTS DAY DATES
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | April 24 | Sunday |
| 2023 | April 30 | Sunday |
| 2024 | April 28 | Sunday |
| 2025 | April 27 | Sunday |
| 2026 | April 26 | Sunday |
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