Rio de Janerio, June 3 (IANS): Pets outnumber children in Brazilian households, a media report said on Wednesday.
There are 52.2 million pet dogs in Brazil while the number of children aged 0 to 14 years is 44.9 million, reported Brazil's G1 news website.
Some 44.3 percent of Brazilian households have at least one dog, with each household having 1.8 dogs on an average, Xinhua reported.
Cats, though less favoured by Brazilian households, are still numerous.
The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) estimated that 28.9 million households -- or 17.7 percent of the total -- own at least one cat, averaging 1.9 cats per household.
But Brazilians are somewhat derelict in performing their duty as pet owners.
According to the IBGE, only 75.4 percent of owners had vaccinated their pets against rabies during the 12 months before the survey was taken in 2013. Yearly rabies vaccines are mandatory in Brazil.