The top countries with the highest share of cat-owning households also include the Philippines, Thailand, Poland, New Zealand, the United States, Latvia, and Hungary, where cats are present in 35% of households.
According to the statistical portal Seasia Stats, it links the popularity of cats in Eastern Europe to the agricultural past, when a cat in a village house protected supplies from mice and rats. In Southeast Asian countries, according to the portal, cats began to be kept more often as urbanization increased and Western lifestyle trends spread.
At the same time, Russia also leads in the number of homeless animals: according to the nationwide 2025 census, the country counted 2.8 million stray cats and 800,000 dogs. Experts believe that up to 98% of street animals were once pets and ended up on the street or got lost.
The authors of the article point out that measures against the problem of stray animals remain insufficient: shelters are overcrowded, they lack funding, and sterilization and vaccination are carried out inconsistently. In a number of regions, authorities recommend shooting stray dogs and cats or capturing them followed by euthanasia.
In July 2023, regions were given the right to decide for themselves whether to continue the federal TNVR program — trapping, sterilization, vaccination, return — or to adopt their own methods. This happened amid calls from some regional authorities, including in Siberia and the Far East, to allow shooting or euthanizing stray dogs.
Animal rights activists, public figures, and cultural figures opposed the bill allowing the killing of stray animals. Protests were held in dozens of Russian cities, and in Moscow protesters gathered several times near the presidential administration building.
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