Pet adoption shifts
The French bulldog craze appears to be cooling while dachshunds are trending up — U.S. data shows about 4 million dogs and cats are adopted from shelters each year and roughly 37 million millennials now own pets (local10.com) (skytails.com). Meanwhile shelter and pet-care posts today pushed natural remedies for allergies and digestion plus behavior-support tactics aimed at keeping pets with owners rather than returns (x.com) (x.com).
The American Kennel Club’s 2025 registration release shows dachshunds re‑entered the AKC top five for the first time since 2003 while the French Bulldog again held the No. 1 spot in the AKC’s rankings. (finance.yahoo.com) AKC registration counts indicate nearly 74,500 French Bulldogs were recorded in 2025, down from roughly 98,500 in 2023 and about 108,000 in 2022. (msn.com) Shelter Animals Count reports 4.1 million animals were adopted from U.S. shelters in 2024, about 2 million dogs and 2 million cats. (shelteranimalscount.org) The ASPCA’s 2024 shelter summary similarly estimates about 4.2 million adoptions and reports roughly 607,000 shelter euthanasias in 2024, a decline from earlier years. (aspca.org) Market research summaries show at least 37 million U.S. millennials now own pets, a figure cited by The Zebra and reproduced in industry roundups this year. (thezebra.com) Pet‑care outlets circulated guides this week on home remedies for itching, allergies and digestive upset, with ABP Live publishing a “how to handle common pet health issues naturally” piece. (news.abplive.com) Animal‑welfare platforms including HumanePro are concurrently urging shelters to expand proactive behavior‑support and retention programs to reduce owner surrenders and returns. (humanepro.org) AKC and news coverage emphasize that the AKC ranking is based on voluntary purebred registrations and does not include mixed‑breed or many designer dogs, so AKC shifts reflect registration trends rather than the entire U.S. pet population. (akc.org)
