Survey Ofthe Swedish Dog Population: Age, Gender, Breed, Location and Enrolment in Animal Insurance
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Acta vet. scand. 1999,40. 231-240. Survey ofthe Swedish Dog Population: Age, Gender, Breed, Location and Enrolment in Animal Insurance By A. Egenvall', A. Hedhammar', B. N. Bonnett/ and POison) I Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Swedish University of Agri cultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden, 2Department of Population Medicine, Ontario Veterinary College, Univer sity of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada, 3Agria Insurance, Stockholm, Sweden. Egenvall E, Hedhammar A, Bonnett BN, Olson P: Survey of the Swedish dog pop ulation: Age, gender, breed, location and enrolment in animal insurance. Acta vet. scand. 1999, 40, 231-240. - A sample of the Swedish population was surveyed by in terviewing households by telephone . The number interviewed was 11,762, of which 15.5% owned dogs, and of these, 77.9% had one dog. The estimated total population of dogs in Sweden was just over 800 000. Dog-owning was more common in more rural ar eas compared to larger cities. The numbers of male and female dogs were similar and few dogs were neutered. Mean age was 5.7 years with median 5 years. Mongrels com prised 13.3% and the most common breed was the dachshund (7.4%). Ofdogs with in formation on insurance status, 68.4% of the dogs were insured for veterinary care and 58.3% were life insured . dog population; demographics; Sweden. Introduction World-wide surveys on pet populations have phy is well defined. However, to be able to ex been performed to provide estimates of the trapolate the findings from the insurance data, number ofowned and unowned dogs to monitor further information is needed on the Swedish changes in patterns of pet ownership through dog population. This information will help de time, to investigate market activities involving tennine the similarities between the insured pets and to provide a background for the study dogs and populations of dogs in Sweden and of diseases (Robinson 1967, Griffiths & Bren other countrie s. ner 1977, Troutman 1988, Franti et al. 1990, The primary objectives of this study were to Teclaw et al. 1992, Wise 1992, Patronek et al. describe the composition of the Swedish dog 1997). Our research group is investigating the population with respect to gender, age and usefulness of various canine databases in Swe breed, and to provide estimates of the actual den. Specifically, we have accessed one from an size of the dog population. Secondary objec insurance company (Agria Insurance, Stock tives were to determine how the dog population holm, Sweden) to evaluate whether it can pro varied by geographic location and by human vide useful estimates ofdemography, mortality population density, the proportion of dogs en and morbidity ofdogs in Sweden (Bonnett et al. rolled in insurance and to what extent demogra 1997). A large number of Swedish dogs are in phy of insured dogs differed from non-insured sured by Agria and accordingly their demogra- dogs. Acta vel. scand. vol. 40 no. 3. 1999 232 A. Egenvall et aJ. Materials and methods middle, northern Sweden), the population den The interview sity of the location, the number of persons in Telephone interviews were performed during the household, the household income and the period January 19 to April 9, 1998 by Sifo whether they owned any dog(s) was ascertained Research & Consulting (World Trade Center, for all households. In which geographic area Stockholm, Sweden), a company specialised in the dog owners resided was indicated by the performing omnibus investigations. Questions first digits in the telephone number. The popu asked in this study were part of a larger inter lation density was categorised as either resi view, the whole interview taking about 20 min dence in I of the 3 largest cities, Stockholm, to conduct. Interviews were conducted between Gothenburg or Malmo, or in another commu 5 to 9 p.m., Monday to Thursday evenings. nity with more than 3 000 inhabitants, or in a community with less than 3 000 inhabitants. Sampling Dog owners were asked how many dogs they The sampling unit was household. To ensure an owned (excluding litters of puppies). Addi even distribution of households throughout tional questions were asked for up to 3 dogs per Sweden, the sample was drawn proportionally dog owner (Table 1). Age categories were set a over all telephone numbers within each specific priori, and during the interview the dog's age area code. For each sampled telephone number was recorded as being in the age category clos there were 10 possibilities through changing est to the age given by the owner. For example, the last digit from 0-9. Ifthe call to the primar a dog said to be 2 years and 11 months would be ily sampled telephone number was not an recorded as 3 years old. Dogs of breeds other swered during the first attempt, the telephone than mongrel or one ofthe 26 purebred groups number immediately after it was tried, and this provided in the list were designated as "other". procedure was repeated until a person willing to participate in the interview was found. Inter Analyses views were conducted until the desired sample For dog owners or dogs measures are presented size was reached. The procedure prohibits any from the whole sample as well as separately for calculation ofnon-response rate. those with insurance for veterinary care and for Sample size calculations were performed using life. The percentage of dog owners was strati Epi Info (Version 5.00, Public Domain Soft fied by the major regions in Sweden and by the ware for Epidemiology and Disease Surveil density of the human population in the area lance, Atlanta, 1990). We wanted to predict the where the owners lived. percentage per breed of the most common The dog population was estimated both crudely breeds, where prior estimates varied from 2% to using the total number of households in Swe 7% of the total dog population with an allow den, as well as stratified by the number of able error of50% ofthe estimates . Considering households in each geographic location, as re these calculations, costs and practical consider ported the 1st ofNovember 1990 (Anon. 1998). ations it was decided to sample households un For the total dog population, a 95% confidence til at least 1800 dog-owning households had interval (95% CI) was constructed according to been interviewed. Levy (Levy 1980). For simple proportions 95% CIs were calculated using the formula ± Questions 1.96[(proportion( I-proportion))/n]0.5 (Martin Geographic location of the owner (southern, et al. 1987). The statistical software pro- Acta vel. scand . vol. 40 no. 3, 1999 Survey ofthe Swedish dog population 233 Table I . Telephone questionnaire to obtain demographic information about dog keeping in Swedish house holds. Questions asked for up to 3 dogs per owner. Questions Possible answers What breed? German shepherd dog! terrier/ mongrel / dachshund! golden retriever/ labrador retriever/ stovare/ elkhound! miniature dog! poodle/ cocker spaniel/ rottweiler/ drever/ cavalier king charles spaniel/ shetland sheepdog/ sight hound! collie/ flat coated retriever/ setter/ bemese mountain dog! border collie/ springer spaniel/ newfoundland! boxer/ doberman! german pointer/ other purebred. The age ofthe dog 1-14 years by year/ 15 years or over. The gender of the dog Female/ male. Is the dog neutered ? Yes/ no. The age at neutering In months or years. Is the dog registered in SKC? Yes/ no. How old was the dog when acquired? In weeks, months or years. Source from which the dog was From breeder with several females for breeding! from breeder with acquired? a single breeding female/ own breeding establishment! gift or gotten other way. The main usages ofthe dog (several Companion! hunting! sheepherding! protection- guarding! answers possible) competition! breeding! other. Has the dog been taken to a No/ yes-once/ yes-twice / yes-more than twice. veterinarian during the last 12 months? Is the dog insured for veterinary care? Yes/ no/ don't know. If so - in what company is it insured? Agrial Sieipner/ Sveland! GA-Aktival Folksarnl Trygg-Hansal UAP-jaktjoumalen I Is the dog insured for life? Yes/ no/ don't know. If so, in what company is it insured? Agrial Sieipner/ Sveland! GA-Aktival Folksarnl Trygg-Hansal UAP-jaktjoumalen I I The main registered companies insuring dogs in Sweden . gram SAS (SAS Institute Inc. 1990) was used to 16.2). From the Swedish census data (Anon. analyse the data. 1998a), the percent ofhouseholds in the south ern, middle and northern region were 42.7%, Results 46.9% and 10.5% respectively, similar to the A total of II 762 households were interviewed. distribution in the sample. The distribution of households in the sample The total number of dogs owned by the I 824 with respect to population density, geographic dog owners was 2486 dogs, giving a mean of location, number of persons in household and 1.36 dogs per dog-owning household, out of household income is shown in Table 2. The which there was individual information on crude number and proportion of dog-owning 2330 dogs. Of the households, 1420 had only I households was 1824 and 15.5% (CI 14.9- dog (77.9%), the number ofdogs per household Acta vet. scand. vol. 40 no. 3. 1999 234 A. Egenvall et al. Ta b1e 2 . The distribution of II 762 house holds with respect to geographic region, population density, number ofpersons in household, household income and dog ownership. Numberof Numberof Percent Percent in Dog owners% households in households households sample (95% CI) sample with dogs with > I dog Region Southern 4959 42.2 795 16.0 (15.0 -17.1) 20.3 (17.5-23 .0) Middle 5572 47.4 783 14.1 (13.2- 15.0) 23.0 (20.0-25 .9) Northern 123 1 10.5 246 20.0 ( 17.7-22 .2) 25.6 (20.2-31.1) Total 11762 100 1824 15.5 (14.9- 16.2) 22.1 (20.2-24.0) Population density! The 3 largest cities/ 2855 24.5 244 8.5 (7.5- 9.6) 14.3 (9.9-18.7) 3,000 peop le? 6323 54.3 890 14.1 (13.2-14.9) 18.5 (16.0-21.1 ) < 3,000 people 2 464 21.2 667 27.1 (25.3-28.8) 29.2 (25.8-32.7) Total 11 642 100 1801 Persons in household One 4 135 35.2 344 8.3 (7.5- 9.2) 18.0 ( 14.0-22 .1) More than one 7627 64.8 1480 19.4 (18.5-20.3) 23.1 (21.0-25.3) Total 117 62 100 1824 15.5 (14.9-16.2) 22.