$41 Billion Spent on Pets

Yep, that's forty-one BILLION! Dollars!!!

I don't know about you, but I'm... flabbergasted. Yeah, I know (knew) we were fond of our furry little critters, and our not so furry little critters (some people do own lizards and snakes and fish and birds and gosh, I don't know what else!), but I would never have come up with a number that big to describe our love for our four-legged and two-legged companions.

The August 6th issue of Businessweek sports a feisty looking bulldog on its cover - draped in gold and diamonds. The story is titled, "The Pet Economy" and boy is it big! The story, and the pet economy!

The money spent on our pets is more than the total of the gross domestic product of "all but 64 countries in the world," the article says. Seems like we're now spending more than double what we spent ten years ago.

I couldn't begin to quote from all the individual parts of this story - it's about 900 pages long (okay, it's only about 10 pages, I think) so I suggest you get a copy of Businessweek and read for yourself. But, I will highlight some points...

On why we "spoil" our pet so (they're referring to dogs but cat lovers do this, too) they say, "At the root of the human-animal love connection is the childlike charm of pets." Ah! Indeed. My daughter's cats are here to stay for a week and as she left today, she said (in her little baby voice), "Take care of my babies."

Further on in the story, it says that since many pet owners think of their pets as "babies" they treat them as such. Including spending money on outfits. "That means clothing furry little ones in an ever-expanding range of sweaters, raincoats, leather jackets, and dresses." Big sigh! Let me state for the record that this is one thing I have NEVER done! But, I'm considering it for this winter - to protect Carmel from the cold! Yikes, I'm becoming one of them!!!!

You needn't run to the store to buy this issue to read about the pet world gone wild, you need merely visit the Businessweek link and click on the pet economy link (pretty far down the page) to be treated to the story in video.

Well, well, well... it's a dog's life takes on new meaning, doesn't it? So, how much money do you spend on your darling? (the furry or hairy or scaly one...please)

Comments

[Carmen DelaCruz]

pets are so worth spending money on.