Double record at Zoomark for exhibitors and pets in Italy

Almost 65 million pets live in Italy, including those with four legs, those with feathers and those with fins, and every second family lives with at least one pet. Dogs and cats exceeded 20 million for the first time, with cats reaching almost 12 million, up by more than a million in the last year alone. These are numbers that explain the effervescent atmosphere in the ten pavilions of BolognaFiere, which since yesterday morning have been hosting the 21st edition of Zoomark, the most important international pet fair in Italy, which has reached its historical record: 1,300 exhibitors from 58 countries (+23%), over 90 thousand square metres of exhibition space (+32%) and two-thirds foreign attendance. "A constantly growing event, whose internationalisation has been strengthened by the decision to entrust its management to the Cosmoprof group," explained BolognaFiere President Gianpiero Calzolari, opening the inaugural conference.

"Pets have become a structural presence in Italian society, with a growing impact not only on the economy but also on individual wellbeing, public health and social inclusion," emphasises Giorgio Massoni, president of Assalco, the national association of pet food and pet care companies, which represents 85% of the market. According to the Assalco-Zoomark Report, 96% of pet owners consider their pet part of the family, a relationship that translates into documented benefits, especially for the frail, such as the elderly and disabled: among seniors who live with a pet there is a 15% reduction in doctor visits, equal to a saving for the health system estimated at 4 billion a year. "In Italy there are 27 thousand companies operating along the supply chain and the overall expenditure on pet wellness has touched 7 billion (including food, accessories, bedding and care, ed.) and is constantly growing. These are significant numbers, which show a change that politics must take into account," writes the Minister for Enterprise and Made in Italy, Aldo Urso, in his letter to the organisers. 'Pet rhymes with GDP,' recalls in turn the president of the Senate, Ignazio La Russa, in his inauguration video message.

However, the role of pets in society and the economy is advancing much faster than the regulations. Many demands have been made by the sector and are being discussed in Parliament. While the National Pet Identification System (Sinac), developed by the Ministry of Health, should be operational as early as this year with the compulsory registration of all pets, the bill to establish a digital health card and the digitisation of the pet passport is still being studied. While nothing is known about the timetable for reducing the VAT rate on pet food and veterinary care from 22 to 10 per cent, as already envisaged by European legislation. 'The battle over VAT is historic, it is a tax distortion that does not take into account the social function of animals,' Massoni reiterates. 'Reducing it is not only a fairness measure, but also a public health promotion measure'. Senator Michaela Biancofiore, on stage with her puppy Puggy (the first to enter the Senate offices after 12 years of battles), relaunched the proposal to include animals in the family status and announced the project of a Consolidated Text in which to channel all the proposals under discussion for the protection and recognition of pets, no longer objects but sentient subjects in law. And the president of the ANMVI-National Association of Veterinary Doctors, Marco Melosi, reiterated the principle of 'one health' and therefore the increasingly integrated and incisive role of veterinarians in the protection of collective wellbeing, because human health, animal health and environmental health cannot progress in isolation (70% of infectious diseases in the last 15 years are of animal origin).