The Country With the Least Dogs, & Surprising Reasons Why

Middle Eastern countries have the least amount of dogs, along with Indonesia. This is due to religious beliefs.

Other countries like the Maldives have banned dog ownership, as has an island in Samoa, despite the main island having many dogs.

Wealthy Sweden has very few dogs, while Romania has a lot.

Many people don’t realize that not all countries welcome dogs like dog-loving nations. In fact, many countries don’t value dogs at all.

The fact we have dogs in our house and vehicles, love and cherish dogs as a member of the family and spend much of our money on them is completely foreign to some people around the world.

I’ve been to countries that value cows and ox over traditional western pets. It’s all part of the fabric of humanity and the differences we should celebrate.

Animal preferences often revolve around cultural uses of animals. An example would be a country that uses ox to plowfields by hand will value those animals over traditional western pets.

 

The Middle East Has the Least Dogs

Middle Eastern Countries have the least amount of dogs per head of human population. This is likely due to religious beliefs. Indonesia, which is also Islamic, joins the Middle Eastern countries in low numbers of dog ownership.

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Indonesia all have less than two dogs per 1000 people. That is the lowest of the majority of countries.

Interestingly,although those countries have the lowest number of dogs, they have the highest number of big breeds for the dogs they have. It’s possible this is because those dogs are used as working dogs and guard dogs, rather than as pets.

Of all the dogs in Saudi Arabia, 70 percent of them are large breeds.

While Asian countries also have low levels of dog ownership compared to most western nations, the Philippines bucks that trend. There is one dog for every 8 people, which is six times more than the much larger country of China.

 

The Maldives Have No Dogs

The Maldives is made up of approximately 1190 islands. It’s been stated that there isn’t a single dog on any of the 200 inhabited islands.

About 10 dogs are used by the police department, but they are kept out of sight unless used in operations.

Manono, a small island that is part of Samoa has prohibited dogs. This is in contrast to the main island of Samoa, where dogs are plentiful and often seen running around the streets. Some people consider Samoa to have too many dogs for the size of the island.

Some countries find it difficult to ascertain the numbers of dogs due to the sheer number of stray dogs.

Russia has a very large number of strays that are hard to quantify. There are so many stray dogs that they are becoming an acceptable part of the Russian landscape.

In Europe, the country with the least amount of dogs is Estonia.  Dog numbers in some European countries have increased a lot for a few years. Between 2010 and 2019, they increased by 11 million.

Germany has the most dogs in Europe, with over 10 million.

 

Dogs were Illegal in Iceland

At one point in its history, owning a dog in Reykjavik in Iceland was illegal, and the effects of decades without dogs are still felt to this day. Although you can own a dog there now, they have very stringent rules around dog ownership, such as around vaccination, microchipping, and leash laws.

Cat ownership is much higher in Reykjavik than most places, and it’s considered this is a carry-over effect of the times no dogs were allowed.

 

Some Countries Don’t Welcome Dogs

Some countries are not dog friendly, or they don’t have the same levels of animal treatment as many of us, and it has nothing to do with religion.

When you travel with a dog, you will really get to know who is dog friendly and who isn’t. You can bet that the countries that aren’t dog friendly don’t have high levels of dog ownership.

If you are an expat and want to add to a country’s dog numbers by bringing yours with you, these countries will be very hard to do that in.

  • Japan: This is a very difficult country to take a dog to. If you moved here, you would have to have multiple rabies shots, and blood extracted for testing.

Then you have to wait 180 days before traveling there with your dog.

  • Fiji: Getting your dog to Fiji to join you will take over a year after you are in the country to be fully cleared.
  • Iceland:  Include quarantine costs, vet fees, permit fees, 1 quarantine center in the whole country, and only 3 days each month where quarantined dogs are released. Add to that loads of pre-tests, and it really is a hassle.

Expats will find it hard to take dogs into Iceland.

  • Jamaica: Only ex-pats from 3 countries in the entire world can take their dogs to Jamaica. They are:
    • Great Britain
    • Northern Ireland
    • Republic of Eire
  • Bermuda: There are a number of restricted breeds that you can’t take to Bermuda. They include:
    • German Shepherds
    • Chow-chow
    • Akitas

 

Some Countries Don’t Consider Dogs Pets

In one African country, dogs roam freely, but aren’t considered pets. The locals use them to scare away strangers and wild animals looking for food. They don’t feed the dogs, allow them into the house, or pet them.

They don’t even have an equivalent word for the English word, pet.

Although you can say countries like that have dogs, they aren’t pets in the sense pet-loving nations have pet dogs.

It depends on where in the world you live as to whether you are likely to have a dog.

In the USA, you are twice more likely to have a dog than if you live in France, and 20 times greater than if you live in India. What this tells us is, some countries may have a huge number of dogs (like all the street dogs in India), but that does not translate to pet dog ownership.

Money doesn’t seem to contribute to the likelihood of dog ownership as much as culture.

  • Sweden is one of the richest countries in Europe, but only 12 percent of households have a dog.
  • Romania is one of the poorest countries in Europe, but 46 percent of households have a dog.

Some nations just prefer cats, and naturally have fewer dogs. You are likely to find three or four times more cats than dogs in:

  • Switzerland
  • Indonesia
  • Austria
  • Turkey

 

Dogs Are Still the Most Popular Pets

Even though many countries don’t value dogs, they are still the most popular pet.Approximately 33 percent of pets are dogs. Cats come in a close second at 23 percent. Fish and birds come in at 12 and 6 percent respectively.

There is one country that can claim they have eradicated stray dogs, but still maintained a good number of dogs who are well looked after.

Holland has taken a number of steps to sort out the problem of abandoned dogs and has been completely successful. It makes sense to look into this when considering which country has the least amount of dogs. On the outside, you would consider Holland to be reasonably low compared to others, but that is because they have very strict rules around dog ownership that likely prevents many potential casual dog owners from taking the first step.

The steps they took are:

  • Prison sentences for abandoning or mistreating animals
  • High taxes if you buy a purebred dog
  • Free spay and neuter campaigns
  • A specific division of police to deal with animal abandonment and cruelty

This was after they noticed patterns in the abandonment of dogs. Stray dogs increased when hunting season was over, dogs grew too big, or they turned out not to be purebred.

 

The Bottom Line on Dog Ownership Worldwide

Very few countries have no dogs at all. Many countries don’t welcome dogs for various reasons, from religion, strict laws or culture, and history.

In those countries that embrace dog ownership, dogs are the most popular pets by quite a high margin. Unfortunately abandoned and stray dogs result in lots of places, but as Holland proved, remedying this can be successful.

Wherever you live, I hope you are able to experience the joy of owning a dog and all of the challenges that come with it.

 

Writer: Craig Taylor

Read about me

Resources

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/11/the-dog-economy-is-global-but-what-is-the-worlds-true-canine-capital/265155/#:~:text=Middle%20Eastern%20countries%20and%20Indonesia,53%20countries%20surveyed%20by%20Euromonitor.

https://www.petsecure.com.au/pet-care/a-guide-to-worldwide-pet-ownership/

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/countries-with-the-most-dogs-worldwide.html

https://www.statista.com/statistics/414956/dog-population-european-union-eu-by-country/

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/illegal-in-iceland-180957521/#:~:text=In%201924%2C%20the%20city%20of%20Reykjavik%20banned%20keeping%20dogs%20as%20pets.&text=Pooches%20aren’t%20illegal%20in,decades%20persists%20to%20this%20day.

https://boogiethepug.com/the-hardest-countries-to-visit-with-a-dog/

https://www.psychologytoday.com/nz/blog/animals-and-us/201908/is-love-dogs-mostly-matter-where-you-live

https://www.petfoodindustry.com/articles/5845-infographic-most-of-world-owns-pets-dogs-are-tops

https://myanimals.com/latest-news/help-them-out/country-no-stray-dogs/