Hyderabad, Jan 21 (FN Agency) The government should come out with a policy on Pet Care or Companion animals in the country, said TG Srikanth,Business Head, Hitex here on Saturday. Addressing a curtain raiser programme on the upcoming ‘PETEX India’, India’s largest gathering of Pet Industry Professionals and Pet Parents being be held at Hitex here from January 27 to 29, Srikanth said that we have seen a rapid increase in pet adoption during the past decade and this further increased during the recent pandemic. It is now estimated that there are over 2 crore adopted dogs in the country and the adoption of cats is catching up fast, he said.
It is estimated that 20 percent of pet parents adopt cats. The reasons for this adoption are cited to be many, he informed. Ever increasing size of the middle-income group and their capability to spend, increase in the micronuclear families where pets have become the most sought-after companions and for the same reason due to the loneliness humankind faced due to the restrictions during the pandemic, he said. The way we live has changed and along with us our pets have moved. They are no longer viewed as animals who hang around the backyard. We now get to hear things like “pet parents”, “humanization of pets” , he said and added that the consequence of all these developments is the explosion of the pet care industry.
With an estimated size of about 8000 to 10,000 crores in India and growing at a pace of 14 per cent annually, India is among the fastest growing pet care industries across the globe, he added. The pet food industry leads with over 80 per cent of the market and others that are catching up fast are Grooming, Health care, Accessories, Toys, and Cafes, said Srikanth. To address these issues, 5 5th edition of Petex has come up with a 360-degree approach to the pet industry. We have successfully brought in representations from all these sectors, he added.