A young woman from Shanghai has gone viral across China. She spent 12,000 yuan (approx ₹1.64 lakh or $1,700) to enroll her six-month-old Samoyed dog in a pet daycare, according to the South China Morning Post.
The woman, who goes by the pseudonym Taotao and was born in the 1990s, said she chose the arrangement because her workload left her with little time. She could not devote enough time to her pet.
The package she chose includes personality testing, behavior training and social activities. It even has a dedicated school bus service for daily pick-up and drop-off.
“I’m usually too busy with work and don’t have much time to socialize,” Taotao told Cover News.
Chinese domestic market
China’s urban pet industry has entered a new phase of rapid and high-quality growth. Consumers are increasingly treating their animals as family members rather than just pets. It shows in the numbers.
According to Daydream’s December 2025 report, China’s pet consumption market will grow by 7.5% in 2024 to exceed 300 billion yuan (over ₹4.10 lakh crores) for the first time.
The cat-related market alone reached 144.5 billion yuan ( ₹1.97 million crowns), which is an increase of 10.7%. By 2027, the urban pet market is expected to grow to 404.2 billion yuan ( ₹5.5 million million crowns).
The urban population of dogs and cats reached 124.11 million in 2024, up 2.1% from the previous year. The number included 52.58 million dogs and 71.53 million cats.
Pet ownership among Chinese households continues to rise, from 13% in 2019 to 22% in 2023. However, this remains significantly lower than the United States (70%), Germany (36%) and Japan (28%).
Indian animal market
India’s pet ownership rate is at 43%, according to the December 2024 TGM Global Pet Care Survey, which is below the global average of 55%.
Dogs are the most popular pets in India, with 63% of pet owners citing a canine companion. Cats follow with 42% and fish with 19%. This differs from the global average in the TGM survey, where dogs made up 58% of pets, cats 53% and fish just 9%.
Separate data from Mordor Intelligence paints an even more canine dominance. According to their analysts, dogs will account for 87.7% of India’s pet population in 2022, compared to just 9% for cats.
However, cat ownership has grown rapidly, especially during the pandemic. Cats constituted only 0.5% of India’s pet population in 2020. However, between 2017 and 2022, the cat population increased by 88%.
On the commercial side, dogs also dominate India’s pet products market, accounting for 92% of the market in 2022. Dog food sales were valued at $562.7 million this year, with analysts forecasting the figure to reach $1.76 billion ( ₹16,650 crore) by 2029.
