The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed.
As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year.
Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed.
Photo: Tsai Shu-yuan, Taipei Times
In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last year, 1,880 doctors joined the specialist physician program for children under three years old, who were in charge of caring for 195,552 children in 1,048 medical institutions.
The percentage of veterinarians that specialize in pet animals are higher in metropolitan areas or cities with tech professionals.
Hsinchu City, where the Hsinchu Science and Industrial Park is located, has the highest percentage of animal medical specialists.
The percentages in the six special municipalities are as follows: 84.3 percent in New Taipei City, 78.4 percent in Kaohsiung, 76.7 percent in Taoyuan, 76.4 percent in Taipei, 76.1 percent in Taichung and 70 percent in Tainan.
The nation has about 1,800 animal hospitals, but the number could potentially increase to 2,000 by the end of this year or next year, Taipei Veterinary Medical Association chairman Yang Hsiao-po (楊孝柏) said.
On average, each veterinarian cares for 575 animals, compared with 2,500 in Japan and 4,000 in the US, he said.
The rising demand for medical care for pet animals has also motivated more animal hospitals to increase investment in medical facilities, he added.
“In the past, veterinarians could open an animal hospital with just a table and a stethoscope. A large percentage of people treated their pets as nothing more than animals. If a dog or a cat vomited, you only needed to prescribe some medications, and if it did not work, pet owners just came back for more visits,” Yang said.
“People now treat dogs and cats as family members, and they could live as long as humans,” he said. “Animals now receive the same medical treatment as humans do. If they throw up, you have to do blood tests and an ultrasound to determine [whether] they have gastroenteritis.”
Not wanting to have children is only one of the reasons why more people choose to become pet owners, Yang said.
“Raising dogs and cats has healing effects, and people would choose to have pets to accompany their elderly parents so that their parents can have a normal and more social life,” he said.
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