In recent years, with the continuous development of India's economy and the continuous improvement of people's material living standards, more and more Indians (especially young Indians) have begun to pay attention to the need for emotional support. For example, many people seek companionship by raising pets. The scale of pet breeding in India has gradually expanded over time, which has further driven pet owners' consumer demand for pet supplies, food and services. Personalized and diversified needs have become increasingly obvious, and the development of the Indian pet industry has gradually entered the fast lane.

Indians are becoming obsessed with dogs

The emerging Indian pet care industry is developing rapidly

In 2021, when Kyle DaCosta and his wife met A nine-month-old Shih Tzu, "we fell in love at first sight." The newlyweds soon adopted another Shih Tzu. They loved the two dogs very much and bought pet insurance and dog insurance for them. Dog-sized Indian cricket jerseys and other gear. Later, they rented a larger apartment to give the dogs "more space to roam."

The DaCostas and millions of others India's middle class, a major beneficiary of the country's strong economic growth in recent years, is following a well-established development path. No longer content with new cars, designer sneakers and other Western gadgets, they were quickly acquiring pets.

According to data company Statista, there were 19.4 million pet dogs in India in 2018, and the number may have reached 31 million now. In 2021, another research organization, Market Decipher, estimated that the Indian pet economy is worth US$890 million and will nearly triple in the next 10 years.

This trend reflects the more rapid growth of the Indian pet industry. It is estimated that the market size of the Indian pet industry has increased fivefold in seven years and will reach US$58.6 billion by 2022. As incomes increase, more and more people keep pets, especially young professionals, who tend to marry later and have children later, and are especially open to surrogacy with pet dogs.

It’s only a matter of time before Indian dating sites add “pet-friendly” options. As elsewhere, the pandemic lockdown has increased demand for animal companionship in India.

Old companies in the pet industry are stepping up their development, and new companies are also emerging. Nestlé, the world's largest food company, acquired Indian pet food company Purina Petcare last year.

Indian consumer goods giant Emami offers Ayurvedic medicines for pets. Market research company Euromonitor International believes that the Indian pet food industry has a market value of US$480 million and will grow to US$1.2 billion by 2025.

The pet service industry is also booming, both traditional and bizarre. Pet grooming and boarding businesses are becoming increasingly common. One such company is Wiggles, which recently opened a mega store in Pune, Maharashtra.

Online pet store Supertails provides pet relationship management services and advises on pet-friendly policies. Varun Sadhana, the company's co-founder, said emphatically: "We offer 'parental leave' for new parents (he means pet owners)."

Pet-friendly hotel chain Take A Dog's Story encourages customers to "choose a pet hotel in some of the most scenic locations in India". Visiting pets will be crowned with marigold garlands. Its founder Himmat Anand said: "For me, pets are guests, not you."

As the reputation of pet keeping becomes more and more high, the popularity of pet industry practitioners has also increased. Prestige is also growing. "Just five years ago, people would have looked down upon people working in this industry," said Chinmai, a 30-year-old dog trainer in Thane, a suburb of Mumbai. He remembers his relatives asking him: "How do you find a girlfriend in this business? ”

But now dog trainers in Mumbai can earn up to 2,400 rupees (approximately US$30) per hour, more than twice that of a piano teacher. Chinmai is so in demand that he has now tied the knot with one of his clients.

Socrates has a famous saying: I know that I am ignorant. It is said that the more things you know, the more ignorant you become. Socrates believed that people's understanding of the objective world is limited, and it is impossible to fully understand the objective world, and should not delve into the objective world. God has his own plans for the world. If people insist on exploring the mysteries of the world and nature, they will eventually blaspheme or even offend the gods. Precisely because humans cannot fully understand the world built by God, those who claim that they can understand and transform the world are themselves representatives of ignorance. Although Socrates' interpretation of the concept of "I know and I know nothing" now seems to be inconsistent with objective science. But at least Socrates warned people that human cognition is limited, and existing knowledge may even contain errors and omissions. In the same way, we must adopt the mentality of "I know and I don't know" on the road to education, so that we can go further. Finally, I wish all the students success!