The Burrow
Feb 4, 2021
Pets bring joy, happiness and companionship into our homes, and we all think ours is the best in the world!
But what is the most popular pet? Does it come down to the usual suspect of dogs versus cats, or are other types of pets also vying for the top spot?
To find out, we used the Google Trends ‘search queries’ function to learn the top three most searched pets in each country around the world in 2019.
Yes, man’s best friend came crashing in – wagging tails and all – to the top spot for the most searched pet in 2019.
Out of the 169 countries that returned Google Trends search data for pets, 161 had searched for dogs in some capacity, and 157 countries had dogs in their top three searched pets.
Cats, however, were not far behind, appearing in 137 countries’ pet searches and 129’s top three.
Horses and hamsters clinched third and fourth place respectively, and snakes were the fifth most searched pet. Even more surprisingly, scorpions were the ninth! They may not be as cuddly as cats and dogs, but it appears that people around the world love these sharp little critters as pets.
Of course, cats and dogs weren’t the only animals that nabbed the top spot as each country’s most searched pet. Click each pet below to see the countries in which they were the most searched.
Furthermore, Bermuda, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Guinea, Mozambique and Timor-Leste were the only countries that didn’t see dogs or cats anywhere in their top three most searched pets in 2019.
As is the way of the world, some things just aren’t as popular as others – and that includes pets, no matter how much we think we love all animals equally.
Guinea pigs showed up in five countries’ overall results, donkeys and iguanas made an appearance in four, and geckos and pigs made two countries’ lists. However, the following only made it into the overall results for one country each:
We also thought we’d look at how search interest in the top eight most searched pets in 2019 has fared during the first six months of 2020, compared to the same time in 2019. Did the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent worldwide lockdowns have any impact on the number of people Googling for pets?
Click through the below charts to see how the trends changed year-on-year.
We can see that searches for ‘dog’ and ‘cat’ began to pick up in March 2020, the month during which many countries around the world began to implement stay-at-home restrictions.1 Search interest in horses, hamsters, birds and fish also experienced slight increases from March 2020.
Conversely, search volumes for ‘snake’ and ‘rabbit’ decreased during the first six months of 2020.
Whether your beloved pet is one of the most or least searched of 2019, you no doubt want to protect it in every way you can. Aside from vaccinations, worming and other healthcare, one thing you can do is get pet insurance.
Pets can be mischievous little things and, unfortunately, may get themselves into trouble from time to time. Pet insurance can help foot the bills for injuries and illnesses, allowing you to focus on helping your furry friend get back to health.
Compare pet insurance today using our free and fast Australian comparison service.
Brought to you by Compare the Market: Making it easier for Australians to search for great deals on Pet Insurance.
