31.1.2020
Italian pet market is one of the biggest in Europe with 50 % of the families owning a pet (Assalco, 2018). Besides the growing number of animals, the quality of care is increasing steadily. The dog owners are spending every more in quality food, technology, trendy products. Dogs and cats are the most common animals, both around 7 million in Italy. Italian pet owners are diligent and responsible (Doxa14) . 90% of the owners have registered their pet in the regional pet registries. On average the pets are taken once a year to a veterinary visit.
Finns are known for their close relation with the nature and animals. In fact, recent years several new pet related products and technologies have been launched by Finnish companies. For example the online dog training app OneMind Dogs. The puppy training is based on shifting the approach from human centered to dog centered. Also in the pharmaceuticals Orion Pharma developed a veterinary gel Sileo improving the wellbeing of noise sensitive dogs to cope with disturbing noisy event like New Years celebreations. It was autrhorized by EMA for the EU market in 2015. Health and wellness trackers have been a boom for humans already for years, but now there are trackers also for pets! Anaxeos has launched a lightweight vest for dogs with sensors that track heart rate and temperature, connected to a mobile app that then reveals the data and interprets it so that the dog’s carer can take action. Especially in an urban living environment some times dogs get anxious while alone and disturb neighbours with barking. Another Finnish software company Digital Dogsitter developed a tool to listen and calm the dog when needed. It is useful also to control how the dog is doing at home. In the field of cartilage generation there is also a valid Finnish remedy COPLA by Askel Healthcare used in veterinary surgery.
Sources: Good News from Finland 9/2019, Il Sole 24 Ore, company websites
