Brazilians Today Have More Dogs than Children, Says Study

06/03/2015 - 09h01

According to data published by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) on Tuesday (2), the dog truly is man's (and woman's) best friend.

44.3% of Brazilian households have at least one dog, with the total domestic canine population estimated at 52.2 million.

The data refers to 2013, meaning that there are more dogs than children in Brazilian households.

According to the National Household Sample Survey (PNAD) from the same year, there were 44.9 million children of 14 years old or less in the country.

Dogs are most popular in the southern region, where 58.6% of households have at least one dog.

The data clearly shows where Brazilians stand on the dog-cat debate, with just 17.7% of households having a cat.

The total domestic feline population is 22.1 million, less than half the canine population.

It is the first time that the IBGE has published the number of cats and dogs in the country using this methodology.

The research also shows the number of households in which pets have been vaccinated against rabies.

Translated by TOM GATEHOUSE

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	Reprodução/YouTube/Fritz Dog
	44.3% of Brazilian households have at least one dog