USDA publishes Kenya petfood market report

The US Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service published a Global Agricultural Information Network report that highlights the growing Kenyan pet food market.

The report says that Kenya's pet food market grew 27% over the period from 2006-2010, attributed to an increase in pet ownership and demand for quality petfood. Kenya's pet food imports total about US$960,000, triple the amount in 2006, according to the report.
The report also cites data from Euromonitor International that says the pet population in Kenya, including cats, dogs, doves, pigeons and rabbits, grew by an average of 3% per year to more than 8 million in 2010. The report predicts Kenya's imports of pet food will continue to increase as pet ownership increases and consumers demand specific types of pet foods.

Making the case for pets in our lives

Those of us who love, live with and/or work with pets know intuitively the many benefits they bring to people. But can those benefits be quantified and backed by sound, scientific research?

More and more experts and entities seem to think so. About this time last year, global petfood giant Mars Petcare announced that its Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition was teaming up with the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, part of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study whether animals have a tangible effect on children's well-being.

In fact, NIH recently issued a "funding opportunity announcement" -- government-speak for a grant application -- for the study of the impact of human-animal interaction on child health and development.

Its involvement is nothing new for the Waltham Centre, which Mars says "conducts and funds extensive research into the study of human-animal interaction." Just last week Mars unveiled its latest initiative, Power of Pets, a collaboration with YMCAs in five US cities to promote the benefits of pet ownership to human health. The project even has its own Facebook page.

Along with Power of Pets, Mars also released results of a study of 1,000 US pet owners on exercising with pets and other aspects of health and well-being they believe their pets confer. Highlights include:

• Improving their overall well-being was the main reason respondents gave for having a pet, with 66% choosing it; 61% also said they owned pets because they wanted the companionship.
• Half of the respondents said it's more important to maintain a positive relationship with their pet than with their best friend. Women were more likely to say this than men, 53% to 46%.
• 95% said they have a very strong emotional connection to their pet, and 63% said they're extremely attached to their pet. Again, women were more likely to be extremely attached than men, 69% to 56%.
• Respondents reported a gamut of positive emotions associated with their pets, such as happiness (83%), love (70%), calmness (65%), excitement (31%) and even invigoration (18%).
• 36% of pet owners ages 18-44 admitted quality time with their pet excites them, compared to 22% of those 45 and older.

You might be thinking right about now: Of course a huge company like Mars can throw its vast resources behind research in this area. But it's not alone. Recently the American Pet Products Association (APPA), which represents hundreds of petfood (and other pet) companies of varying sizes, announced a similar initiative. APPA is partnering with Dr. Alan Beck at Purdue University to launch the Human Animal Bond Research Initiative (HABRI) with the main goals of creating a central database for all research on the topic and encouraging the US Congress to provide resources to NIH so it can allocate money toward such research.

For people in an industry like petfood, all of this may seem like preaching to the choir. In the September issue of Pet Business magazine, Bob Vetere, president of APPA, made the case: ... "The fastest growing demographic in the US population (Hispanic, Black, Asian and children) represent some of the lower incidences of pet ownership. Left unchecked, this does not bode well for such a vibrant industry. HABRI is one very positive way to address this trend."

Whiskers Inc. a group that helps needy pet owners spay, neuter pets celebrates 13th birthday

In August, Virginia, USA non-profit organization Whiskers Inc. celebrated its 13th birthday.

This volunteer organization has served Accomack County, Virginia, USA since Aug. 2, 1997. The organization's goal is to aid pet caregivers with the cost of spaying, neutering or feeding their family pets. Whiskers is also involved in the Client Assistance Program with Accomack Animal Control, which provides free pet sterilizations for adopted shelter animals. As of July, Whiskers says it has financially assisted 3,231 cats and 605 dogs to be spayed or neutered.

Japanese pet population increases, petfood ads decrease

In 2009, the Japan pet population grew to 13.6 million dogs and 11.3 million cats, a 9 and 29% increase respectively from 2004, according to the Japan Pet Food Association. But while the number of Japanese pets continues to rise, ATL advertising has decreased in the country.
Last year, Master Foods Japan spent one-tenth of what it spent a decade earlier on advertising, according to in-house data from McCann Erickson Japan.
Ichiro Hata, group account director at McCann Erickson Osaka, told Haymarket Media Limited the reason for the drop.
“After the [March 2004 recall of Pedigree dog food], the consumer psychology changed,” said Hata. “Makers of mid-quality petfood … cut back on advertising. Sales of petfood shifted toward the premium and low ends.”