Most Russian Pet Owners Take Their Animals on Holiday, Survey Finds

A large majority of Russian pet owners have travelled with their animals, according to a study by the Yandex Travel service seen by Lenta.ru. Among respondents who keep pets, 81 percent said they had taken them along on a trip.

Emotional attachment was the leading reason. Sixty-four percent said they felt calmer with their pets nearby, while 62 percent called the animals family members and therefore wanted to holiday together. Another 47 percent simply had no one to leave the pet with, and 46 percent said they wanted to spare the animal the stress of separation.

Pets join both short getaways and long holidays. Sixty-one percent of those surveyed had taken an animal on a trip of a few days or a weekend at least once in the past year, and 55 percent had brought a pet along on their main vacation. Seventeen percent took an animal when travelling to another city for an event.

Earlier analysis named southern Russia the top domestic destination for travelling with pets, with Sochi, Anapa, Gelendzhik and Crimea favoured by 27 percent of respondents.