Demand for pets has returned to similar levels experienced pre-pandemic, according to new research.

Pets4Homes, which claims to be the UK’s largest free online pet marketplace, believes the current pet market is stable but more and more pets are now left looking for a forever home.

In its UK Pet Industry Report, Pets4Homes said: “The demand in the pet industry greatly represents similarities with the demand experienced in 2019. In 2022, the UK began to face the cost-of-living crisis, which significantly impacted the demand for a pet. There has been a greater demand for breeders to meet buyer needs, despite buyer research and knowledge remaining relatively low.”

The report states:

• Demand stabilises to pre-pandemic rates with 2m weekly visitors and 80 potential buyers per pet, compared to 420 buyers per pet in the pandemic. 
• The cost-of-living crisis has resulted in many pet owners (25%) being unable to meet veterinarian costs. Despite the raise in inflation and living costs, 80% of pet owners mentioned in a user study that they would put pets first, despite the cost of living crisis.
• In 2019, 22% of rescue centres had 100% occupancy compared to 2022, when 42% reached 100% occupancy. Due to financial hardships, there has been an increase of 26% in pets placed in rescue centres. 
• Prices of pets have declined by 52% for dogs and 28% for cats; however, these prices are still above the pre-pandemic cost for pets. 
• In 2022, 22% of sellers have been active breeders for four years, with licensed sellers increasing from 22.1% to 28% in December 2022. 
• Despite the increase in unethical sellers, Pets4Homes has used advanced technology and strategies to combat this, resulting in less than 1.0% of adverts being reported as fake or suspicious.