Milano Pet Week, the first time in Milan, the Lombard capital, from 28th September to 5th October, an event full of initiatives for our non-human friends: 60 million pets in Italy.

Events and initiatives dedicated to pets will come to life in the city, to tell the thousand ways in which our great friends improve our daily life.

The Milano Pet Week initiatives will be an opportunity to discover a world of empathy, respect and friendship that binds man and animal. Contests, opportunities to get information about adoptions and choosing the right pet.

Marathons alongside their four-legged friend, and much more, they will bring a widespread party to the city, to strengthen even further the passion of those who already own animals and offer a good reason to take in a new friend to those who still do not own a pet.

Milano Pet Week: message of integration and respect for all pets

Milano Pet Week is organised by Pets in The City, the new trade fair open to the public, which will debut at fieramilanocity from 4th to 6th October 2019 and will bring together services, products and unmissable opportunities for all pet lovers, representing the culmination of Milano Pet Week and its message of integration and respect for all pets.

With the Milano Pet Week, the Lombard capital is confirmed as a pet friendly city. There are more and more initiatives native to the city that recognise the importance of the relationship between man and animal.

Some of the first companies to allow employees to bring their four-legged friends to the workplace are located in Milan, but it is also possible for long-stay patients or nursing home guests to receive a visit from their beloved pet. In addition, the number of hotels for dogs and cats is growing as well as open-air areas available to allow them to move around freely.

Provision of services to animals and their owner during the Milano Pet Week

During this special week, the city will therefore be able to present itself as a pioneer of good practices for the welcoming and provision of services to animals and their owners, to be publicised and replicated throughout Italy.

A pet friendly city, in fact, draws even more tourists. According to a survey conducted during the last edition of the Bit on a sample of 2,000 people, 59% of the respondents who go on vacation are satisfied with the number and quality of hotel facilities that accept animals. 23% reported having chosen a destination abroad in the last 3 years based on the best treatment reserved for their 4-legged friend.

Pets in italian homes: dogs, cats, birds and other friends

The presence of pets in Italian homes, is, indeed, truly widespread: there are over 60,000,000 domestic animals in Italy (Source: Euromonitor International, 2017). 3 families out of 10 share their home with a pet: in most cases they are dogs (63.3%) and cats (38.7%). Following in the ranking of the pets that keep us company at home: birds (6.2%), rabbits (5.9%), turtles (5%), fish (4.8%) (Source: Eurispes, 2018).

In Lombardy, according to the latest available data, there are over 1,600,000 domestic animals (1 for every 6 inhabitants!) (Source: Coldiretti, 2017).

Pets are not just companions, but they change our lives and change our habits: over 53% of Italians sleep with them. 46.2% of those who have a pet occasionally give up on going out or taking a trip so as not to leave it alone. (Source: Eurispes).

The events of the Milano Pet Week: emotions to be experienced together

Initiatives dedicated to the health of pets, fun moments of leisure time, photo contests and the marathon for all owners of all kinds of animals and much more.

Flash Mob at the Arch of Peace: the inaugural event of the Pet Week.
Wellness for two: an opportunity to find psychophysical wellness together with dogs: at the Biblioteca degli Alberi at Porta Nuova.
A friend is a treasure: to stimulate empathy with pet by locating a series of clues that will allow to discover fascinating places in Milan with pet.
Milano Pet Pool: an opportunity to let animals splash around in Milan, as if the sea had arrived in the city in one of the Milanese parks.
Six-legged marathon: a non-competitive 5 km run, with start and finish at Citylife and open to owners of animals of any species on 5th October.
Games without borders: fun and play with dog friends, many amusing trials for a fun-filled day.
Pet Street: via Dante becomes the first Pet Street in Milan. Themed meetings, entertainment for families, a dog welcome station.
Mondo Gatto open day: the association that has been caring for stray cats since 1985, promoting sterilisation and cattery management campaigns.
“I can enter”: initiatives of shops, restaurants and museums.
Thirst-quenching shopping: bowls of water in the shops belonging to Confcommercio Milano participating in the initiative.
Gourmet with a tail: the EPAM/Confcommercio Milano restaurants accepts animals and offering lunch to pet of those who choose them.