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Well the pets of the world came, they saw and they voted in the Fur-deral Election. In fact, despite the well documented difficulties that paws have on keyboards, over 240,000 individual votes were registered. Remarkable! And while (thankfully) only a few of the furry family voted for Petxit, together we all provided some truly fascinating insights into life with our little loved ones.
All the learnings will form part of the pitch I make to local, state and federal governments each year that help to shape policy and thinking around a more positive approach to pets.
But enough talk, here are the election results!
Key Issues
The Bedroom!
Let’s head straight to the bedroom, where 54% of you share a bed with the smallest family members. But all that wriggling and wrestling for the doona does have a downside. 49% of you say that interrupted sleep is the biggest bedroom challenge, while for 35% of all bedfellows, it’s the hair left behind on the bed.
Power Struggles!
Amusingly, 46% of you believe your dog holds the balance of power in your home. Polling ahead of cats on 27%. You managed 22% of the votes, while your partner could only manage 5% support as preferred leader.
What Pets Want!
A key political issue is how we can make our cities and towns more pet friendly. Well, with this in mind, it seems stamping out puppy farms (43% of votes) and a worrying lack of pet friendly accommodation (29% of votes) are the two big issues.
Preferred Prime Minister
Sure Scott Morrison got the nod in that other election. But if you prefer your leaders with more fur and on four legs, this was the poll that mattered. And it seems you also prefer a leader with familiarity. After all, 50% of you chose your own pet as the Fur-deral leader. The deputy PM was the thirsty koala from the NRMA ads while George the wombat came in 3rd place. Now that’s one election party we’d all love to be at. While one leader is drinking too much, the other is digging himself holes. Wait, that already sounds like parliament.
