Study on animal identification and missing pets
What identification methods do pet owners use? Have they ever lost their pet, and how did they find it?
What identification methods do pet owners use? Have they ever lost their pet, and how did they find it?
The Weenect survey looked at our customers' knowledge of pet identification and their experiences of losing their pets, seeking to answer several key questions.
For a complete and accurate picture, the survey was based on a customer survey of 1,444 French, Swiss, Austrian, Belgian and German Weenect customers, 846 of whom are dog owners and 872 cat owners, providing detailed information on their profiles, knowledge, opinions and experiences related to pet identification and loss.
This enabled a detailed understanding of the use of identification services and experiences of pet loss, providing valuable insights into respondents' behaviors and expectations.
NB: This survey also takes into account animals lost before our customers acquired our trackers.
Discover the detailed results of our study, through a series of lessons learned illustrated by graphs.
According to our survey, 83.4% of pet owners are aware of the legal requirements for pet identification in their country. .
Our study reveals that 85.3% of pet owners are aware of the need to update information in the event of a move. However, we note a lack of awareness among the under-25s, of whom only 66.7% are informed, compared with over 80% for other age groups.
94.2% of respondents' animals are identified by a microchip, making it the most widely used identification method. However, less than 2% are still unidentified.
Just over half of owners (54.8%) say their pet wears a collar with an identification tag. This figure varies greatly according to the type of animal: 61.9% of cats do not wear a tag, compared with only 27.90% of dogs.
Our survey shows that 30.2% of respondents have already lost their pet, with similar rates for cats (31.9%) and dogs (28.4%).
Young animals, especially those between 1 and 3 years old, are the most likely to get lost, accounting for 49.3% of lost animals.
The majority of owners (85.6%) are reassured by the use of Weenect trackers, proving their effectiveness in preventing and managing these stressful situations.
Our survey shows that 21.8% of owners found their pets thanks to the Weenect tracker. Social networks, the identification tag (15.2% each), posters (14.4%) and the identification system (13.3%) were also useful.
Dogs are more often found thanks to their GPS tracker (26.3%) or their identification tag (25.5%). Cats are also found thanks to their trackers (17.3%), but also thanks to posters in the street (20.3%).
More than half of lost pets (53.7%) are found within a few hours. 80.2% of animals with a Weenect tracker and 84.6% with a tag are found within a few hours, while those found via posters or social networks often take several days (60.3% and 39.7% respectively).
The majority of dogs (81.5%) are found within a few hours, compared with just 28% of cats. Our study also shows that animals under a year old are often found within a few hours (59.7%) or days (34.7%), while those over 7 years old more often take a week or more (24.6%).
The median distance covered by the animals while they were missing was still 2 kilometers.
This survey confirms that most pet owners are well-informed about legal identification requirements, with microchipping the preferred method. However, almost a third of respondents have already lost their pet, a distressing experience that demonstrates the importance of effective solutions for quickly finding a lost companion.
The Weenect GPS tracker stands out as the most effective method of finding a pet, thanks in particular to its real-time location functions. At the same time, tools such as safety zones, which alert owners as soon as their pet wanders off, play a key role in preventing runaways.
