In Germany, 69% of all dogs are pedigreed.
As 'Russkaya Germaniya' notes, such a solid increase – 58% over fifteen years – is not explained by the fact that more puppies are being born in the country – on the contrary, in 2001 about 90,000 were born, and last year only 76,000. However, the lifespan of dogs, like that of humans, is steadily increasing, and the population of Germany is increasingly importing pets from abroad.
Certainly, Germany is not the worst country to run, bark, and happily wag one's tail: dog owners of the Federal Republic spent €1.3 billion on food for their four-legged friends in 2015. Overall, German pets managed to consume €4.11 billion – more than ever before in all years of collecting such statistics.
These billion-dollar amounts do not yet include expenses for veterinarians, payment for helpers for temporary dog sitting, services of dog trainers and dog boarding kennels. Increasingly popular among pet owners are dog coats, sweaters, personalized collars or special types of therapy – dog owners also have to pay a lot for these services.
Anyone who walks a dog in urban areas of Germany should be aware of hygiene rules: cleaning up after the dog is the owner's responsibility, for which free or sold plastic bags are provided. In Germany, about 400 million such special bags are distributed annually.
The statistical office assumes that each German dog does its business twice a day, and the excrement weighs about one hundred grams. If these calculations are correct, then Germany produces 15.8 million piles of dog excrement daily, weighing a total of 1,580,000 kg. That amounts to approximately 576,700 tons per year, so it is no wonder that its disposal increases the burden on the waste processing industry, and uncleaned piles from sidewalks irritate passers-by, especially those who do not consider themselves dog lovers.
Every year, German cities and municipalities receive about €300 million from dog owners in the form of a pet keeping tax. Each municipality decides on the amount of the dog tax independently and also has freedom in using the funds: revenues to the municipal budget from the dog tax must not be spent on specific purposes, for example, street cleaning.
In principle, keeping a dog in the city is more expensive than in the countryside. According to a sociological survey conducted in 2015 by the consumer magazine Stiftung Warentest, the highest dog tax in Germany is paid by residents of Mainz – in the capital of Rhineland-Palatinate it is €186 per year. Next are two cities in North Rhine-Westphalia – Hagen (€180) and Wuppertal (€160). In the Bavarian village of Windorf (4,762 inhabitants), no tax is levied at all; in Ettal (also Bavaria) it is a symbolic €1 per year; in Steigra (Saxony-Anhalt) – €10.
These tax amounts apply to dogs of ordinary breeds. Owners of animals classified as dangerous are usually taxed at higher rates, while guide dogs, guard dogs, herding dogs, and dogs in public service, on the other hand, receive discounts. Owners of animals adopted from shelters are usually exempt from paying the tax – at least for the first time.