Britons prefer dogs to cats 2020

At 2020, Channel 5 surveyed 2,000 people to find the UK's favourite animal. 51% named the dog and 38% named the cat. The hedgehog, horse and robin were also in the top five.

Cat and dog lovers! Poster by Ruth aka Kattaddorra.

Channel 5 commissioned the survey to mark the airing of this week's episode of "All Creatures Great and Small". Callum Woodhouse, the actor who plays Tristan Farnon is a huge dog lover said. He adores the golden retriever who is also an actor in the series. 70% of companion animal guardians consider the animal to be part of the family. The best things about living with a companion animal were (1) company and (2) the affection they give you.

40% of those surveyed said they did not have a companion animal to live with and the main reason given was a lack of space for people living in London. Comment: this might apply more to cats than dogs because you can take a dog on a lead and therefore living in London should not be a big barrier although there is no countryside to enjoy. That said there are some great parks in London.

41% of citizens in Yorkshire who would like to adopt a companion animal said that they could not afford to look after an animal properly to ensure that they had a happy life.

27% of the participants wanted to be a veterinarian because they loved animals so much when they were children.

Comment: Statistica, the website concerned with statistics, tells me that at 2019/20, 23% of households have a dog living in the home and 16% of households have a cat. I find the percentage to be low in respect of cats in particular. Dogs are certainly more popular than cats on the basis of the statistics.

The General Social Survey which is run by social research organisation NORC at the University of Chicago found that 36% of dog owners report being very happy compared to 18% of cat owners. The survey was reported in The Washington Post. In the US, the dog appears to be more popular than the cat as well. I don't know how accurate these surveys are but there is a clear trend in the information that I have which, as stated, is that dogs are more popular than cats.