Wales has been a pet keeping country for centuries, the age old tale of Llewelyn the Great’s dog Gelert protecting his baby from wolves and mistakenly being blamed and killed for the attack dates back almost a thousand years. It shows how important pets have been to Wales for so long, so we take a look at Wales’ favourite pets.
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00:00 We love our pets in Wales. We've got plenty of different types of pets that show up all
00:11 around the country, from dogs and cats to more exotic pets like snakes and tarantulas.
00:16 There are thousands of pets all around Wales, keeping us company in our homes across the
00:20 country. We're going to take a look at the most popular pets as well as take a look at
00:25 some of the more unique pets we keep. We'll start by taking a look at the most popular
00:28 animals. Number one, was there ever going to be a question that our favourite animal
00:34 to have is dogs? Man's best friend has been the most commonly found pet in Wales for decades.
00:40 And according to the most recent data from the Welsh government in 2021, as many of a
00:44 third of households across Wales have a pet dog. They're friendly, loving and feel like
00:51 a quintessential part of a home. Back through the centuries, dogs have been helpful as well.
00:55 Think of Llewelyn the Great and the tragic tale of Gellert. After a wolf attacked Llewelyn's
01:00 newborn baby, Gellert stepped in to save him. But when the distraught father saw blood in
01:04 the house and Gellert in the room, he immediately killed the dog, thinking that he'd attacked
01:08 the baby, only to find that the wolf was the actual attacker. Nowadays, you can visit Gellert's
01:16 grave in North Wales in the village of Beth Gellert. A tale a thousand years old shows
01:20 just how long dogs have been a part of people's lives here in Wales. Second on the list is
01:26 my favourite, cats. Data shows that roughly one in five households has a cat, and there's
01:31 no question why they're so popular. They take much less looking after than dogs, basically
01:34 do their own thing, and come and get attention from us when they want it. They've also been
01:40 helpful pets for centuries, with many living on farms and towns, keeping mice and rat populations
01:44 down. Back in 2013, Alfie, who was known as the most famous cat in Wales, sadly passed
01:50 away, with hundreds of people attending the 19-year-old moggy's funeral. He was a much-loved
01:54 resident in Shepstow, with people across the world leaving well-wishers online when they
01:59 heard of his passing. The next most popular pet is significantly less popular than cats
02:04 and dogs, with hamsters, mice and guinea pigs and things like that calling one in twenty
02:08 houses around Wales home. Statistics from Statistics.com show that Wales has more hamsters
02:13 per capita than any other part of the UK. There are also some more unique pets out there,
02:20 I've got a few myself. This is Pickles, the leopard gecko, who doesn't come out too much.
02:35 And this is Toast, the tortoise, who, about three years old, has still got plenty of life
02:39 left in him, and might even outlive me, with an average lifespan of horse-veiled tortoises
02:44 of being between 80 and an astonishing 100 years old. They don't show the same level
02:48 of compassion as dogs and cats, but we love them all the same.
02:52 [END]