Companion Animals: The Latest National Initiatives

On June 18, 2025, China Agricultural University announced that it would add the Animal Science (Companion Animals) major to this year's college entrance examination enrollment plan. This is the first undergraduate major in companion animals in the country and can be regarded as a milestone event in the field of companion animal education in my country.

With the size of the companion animal consumer market in my country exceeding 300 billion yuan in 2024 and continuing to rise at a compound growth rate of 11.9% in the past decade, far exceeding mature markets such as the United States and Japan, the companion animal industry has become a blue ocean full of potential. According to statistics, the number of registered companion animal-related companies has now exceeded 500,000. Whether it is companion animal medical care, companion animal food research and development, or companion animal grooming, companion animal behavior training and other sub-fields, a large number of professional talents are urgently needed. However, before this, professional education in the field of companion animals in my country was almost blank, and the lag in talent training seriously restricted the high-quality development of the industry.

This major focuses on companion animals such as cats, dogs, and horses, and the carefully designed curriculum system is extremely forward-looking and professional. The establishment of this major will not only continuously supply the companion animal industry with professional talents with professional training to fill the talent gap in the industry, but will also promote the companion animal industry to move forward in the direction of standardization and specialization.

The active exploration of companion animal-friendly transportation is also eye-catching. On June 22, the first "Pet Lover Train" of Jinhua Rail Transit was launched smoothly, just like a warm city practice. This special train from Jinhua Rail Station to Ming and Qing Palace Station is specially designed for cute pets and their owners to go to Hengdian Film City to participate in the "Hengdian Happy Adventure" special event.

This innovative service is not only a bold breakthrough in public transportation services in meeting diversified needs, but also makes urban transportation services more humane and inclusive than ever before. It sends a warm signal to people: the development of a city is not only the rise of high-rise buildings and the improvement of transportation networks, but also the care and respect for every citizen and their "furry children", which is the most vivid transmission of urban warmth.

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The railway department's move to expand the scope of the high-speed rail pet consignment service pilot since June 20 is also of great significance. The pilot covers 25 stations and 38 EMU trains on eight high-speed railways, including the Beijing-Shanghai, Beijing-Guangzhou, Beijing-Harbin, and Shanghai-Kunming lines, allowing passengers to consign one cat or dog pet that is domesticated and in good health, weighing no more than 15 kilograms and with a shoulder height of no more than 40 centimeters.

This move not only actively responds to the diverse travel needs of passengers, but also represents a major innovation in the railway department's service concept. It means that the railway department is no longer limited to the traditional passenger service model, but actively adapts to social development trends, pays attention to the needs of the pet-keeping market segment, and strives to find the best balance between public space and special needs. By continuously optimizing service processes and improving safety measures, the railway department is creating a safer, more convenient, and more comfortable environment for companion animals to travel, so that companion animals and their owners can enjoy convenient high-speed rail travel services together.

These new measures related to companion animals, covering multiple fields from education to travel, are like a slowly unfolding painting, vividly showing the increasingly important position of companion animals in people's lives, and more profoundly demonstrating the respect and satisfaction of society for diverse needs in the process of civilization and progress. At a time when the companion animal economy is booming, these measures have not only injected new vitality into the development of the companion animal industry, but also laid a solid foundation for building a beautiful society where people and companion animals live in harmony.