Share this article Share this article ROCKVILLE, Md., April 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- COVID-19 impacts on the U.S. pet industry were not what seemed inevitable during the initial months of the pandemic. Instead, 2020 turned out to be a banner year for the market, with sales growth of 9% pushing overall pet industry sales to $107 billion, as reported by Packaged Facts' just released U.S. Pet Market Outlook, 2021-2022. Along with the re-confirmed recession resistance of the pet industry, several factors support an extremely positive near- and long-term outlook for the pet market. A surge in pet acquisition and adoption continued through Christmas/Winter Holidays 2020. New pet acquisition—especially strong among those who already had pets and those with children in the home—brought the number of pet dogs to 96 million (up over 10 million from 2019) and the number of pet cats to 32 million (up over 2 million).