Why Bengaluru is seen as the ‘most pet-friendly’ in India Premium

There are indeed many benefits to being a pet owner living in Bengaluru, agrees Anjali Pais, who shares her spacious Bengaluru home with four pets: a dog named Marshmallo and three cats, Sirius, Po and Fifi. “As a pet parent, I think veterinary services, for instance, are very crucial. We had a very bad experience in Chennai and struggled in Mumbai, but it has been different in Bengaluru,” says Anjali, the founder and CEO of Aquilar Strategic Services, who believes that the city’s strong pro-pet and rescue culture has helped grow its pet infrastructure and community. “For instance, if there are people in the apartment who are against pets, just having this strong pro-pet community helps us counter their objections in a united way.”

Krishnapriya Balakrishnan considers her two dogs, Bambi and Leo, her children. She ensures for them the best of veterinary care, customised meals, a 24/7 nanny, and premium grooming sessions, and even throws them birthday parties.

“People are like, oh god, you spend so much money on them. But my friends with kids are also paying insane school fees for them to learn ABCD,” laughs Krishnapriya, Corporate Marketing Head, Maratt Hospitality. “I think it is each one to their own.”

It helps that she is now in Bengaluru — she moved from Kolkata six years ago — a place she considers “way ahead of other cities” as far as pet care is concerned. Not only does the city offer better facilities to look after and enrich a pet’s life, but there is also a large community of pet lovers in the city who support and help each other. There are also multiple city-wide pet parent communities. Her building has one, “and it is very active,” says Krishnapriya. “It is beautiful, and I’ve seen that only in Bengaluru.”

There are indeed many benefits to being a pet owner living in Bengaluru, agrees Anjali Pais, who shares her spacious Bengaluru home with four pets: a dog named Marshmallo and three cats, Sirius, Po and Fifi. “As a pet parent, I think veterinary services, for instance, are very crucial. We had a very bad experience in Chennai and struggled in Mumbai, but it has been different in Bengaluru,” says Anjali, the founder and CEO of Aquilar Strategic Services, who believes that the city’s strong pro-pet and rescue culture has helped grow its pet infrastructure and community. “For instance, if there are people in the apartment who are against pets, just having this strong pro-pet community helps us counter their objections in a united way.”

Bengaluru is the most pet-friendly city in India, with its closest competitor being Mumbai, according to a 2019 survey conducted by Lana Paws Survey. It also appears to be a city where people are willing to spend the most on their pets, as a more recent study by online pet marketplace Supertails, released in 2023, indicates. It found that 55% of Bangaloreans spent an average of ₹3,000 per month on pet care compared to 52% of Mumbaikars.

“Bengaluru is indeed the most pet-friendly city in the country,” says Vineet Khanna, co-founder of Supertails, who estimates that the city houses around 50 lakh pets, anywhere between 13-15% of the overall pet population in the country. “A multitude of variables and factors come together to make it rightfully called a pet-friendly city,” he believes.

For starters, Bengaluru has the third highest population in India and the highest in South India, with an estimated population of almost 14 crore. It is also a very young city with the highest share of the population in the age brackets of 19-30 years and 30-40 years, according to the Bengaluru Rising data report, which Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah released at the Bengaluru Tech Summit in November 2024. “Bengaluru is growing younger with time because of a large population inflow,” believes Supertails’ Vineet, pointing out that this influx of young talent from elsewhere to work in the city, away from their families, leads to a cultural shift as they adapt to single life in a metropolis. “Declining fertility rates and delayed marriages are no exception to Bangalore,” he adds.