Americas Pet Frenzy

AMERICA'S PET FRENZY: FINDING THE BALANCE AMERICA'S $50.8 BILLION PET BUDGET IS THE MOST EPIC DISPLAY OF ANIMAL LOVE IN THE WORLD. And pets love us back, adding years to our lives. Splurging on cat wigs and gold threaded doggie pads we tend to forget: 4 million possible pets die in shelters every year. Let's strike a spending balance where pets and people both win: PAYING FOR PETS More than spent on movies ($18.5 billion), video games (s25 billion) and digital music AMERICANS SPENT OVER (S5.2 billion) combined $48.3 BILLION $18.5B ON PETS LAST YEAR $48.3B MOVIES 95 2B More than spent on PETS children's dental care $30.6B DIGITAL MUSIC ($30.6 billion) CHILDREN'S DENTAL CARE $25B VIDEO GAMES PET OVERPOPULATION 2x the number 72.9 MILLION of households More than the number with children of married households U.S. HOUSEHOLDS HAVE PETS Seattle has 1.5 dogs for every child 13 million lizards are kept as pets in the U.S. (Enough to give every 6th grade boy 5 iguanas) HEALTHIER THAN HUMANS OWNERS VWILL SPEND ...AND THEY'LL SPEND $19.5 BILLION $25.5 BILLION ON PET FOOD THIS YEAR... ON VET CARE AND SUPPLIES More than spending on vitamins ($6 billion) and gym memberships $19.5B ($17 billion) combined PET FOOD $17B 2X GYM MEMBERSHIPS SCHOOL LUNCH $25.5B 66B Nearly 2x the budget of the VET CARE VITAMINS National School Lunch Program On average, pet dogs visit vets 2x more often than men aged 18-45 see their doctors TJAN JAN 77% 51% of Americans took prescriptions DOGS MEDICATED in the last year. 77% of dogs were medicated in the last year 51% AMERICANS MEDICATED AND IN RETURN HEART ATTACK VICTIMS ARE 6X MORE LIKELY Dog owners live up to 3 TO SURVIVE IF THEY OWN DOGS years longer than average Americans HISTORY OF A LOVE AFFAIR 1000s B.C. EGYPTIANS SWORN TO SAVE CATS BEFORE CHILDREN IN FIRES 1500s POPE LEO X KILLS HIS PET ELEPHANT, HANNO, FEEDING HIM TOO MUCH GOLD 1890s MARK TWAIN HOARDS CATS 1929 RIN TIN TIN GETS 10,000 WEEKLY LETTERS, 2X AS MANY AS PRESIDENT HOOVER 2007 LEONA HELMSLEY DIES AND LEAVES $12M To HER MALTESE OWNERSHIP COST/BENEFIT IN 2011, YOU CAN BUY A Puppy: $750 GERMAN CAR Vaccines: $250 AVERAGE YEARLY COSTS: $1540 (Surgical Vet Visits: $407 2011 Volkswagen Jetta: Routine Vet: $248 Food: $254 $15,365 Boarding: $274 Vitamins: $95 Travel: $78 Groomer: Treats: $70 Toys: $43) AVERAGE YEARLY COSTS x 10 Year Life: $16,400 Raising a German Shepherd: $16,400 OR YOU CAN RAISE 1 PURE-BRED GERMAN SHEPHERD EXTREME PETCARE $3.000 WILL COVER CANINE MASSAGE CERTIFICATION IN VIRGINIA 425.000 PETS SPORT TESTICLE IMPLANTS FROM NEUTICLES GENETIC SAVINGS AND CLONE WILL CLONE YOUR CAT FOR $40,000 RISKS OF PET MANIA 4 MILLION 125 INSPECTOR BREEDERS OF THE 7 MILLION AMERICAN SHELTER ANIMALS WILL BE EUTHANIZED 7 MILLION ANIMALS IN SHELTERS 8.800 AMERICAN BREEDERS ARE 4 MILLION INSPECTED BY 70 PEOPLE ANIMALS TO BE EUTHANIZED That's 1 person policing 125 puppy suppliers PHILANTHROPY YOU CAN SAVE A LIFE FOR THE YEARLY PRICE OF 2 MONTHLY STARBUCKS FRAPPUCCINOS $130: $124.56: ANNUAL COSTS TO FIX, ANNUAL COSTS OF GETTING A VACCINATE AND FEED A STARBUCKS FRAPPUCCINO FIX SHELTER PET 2X A MONTH 1 IN 28 57.000: AMERICANS DONATE TO THE NUMBER OF ANIMALS HUMANE SOCIETY (LARGEST THEY SAVED THIS YEAR ANIMAL CHARITY IN THE WORLD) ONLY IF 15% 100% OF AMERICANS DID THEY'D SAVE $2.4 BILLION ADOPT FROM SHELTERS (OR DOUBLE THE BUDGET OF U.S. FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE) WITH ANNUAL DONATIONS FOR ANIMALS AND THEIRENVIRONMENTS AT $6.6 BILLION, U.S. ANIMAL LOVERS GIVE MORE THAN MOST OTHER NATIONS COMBINED. Extending just a little of this generosity to stray dogs and cats, we could all but eliminate euthanasia and pet neglect in the U.S. END Brought to you by FRUGAL DAD Sources http://www.petfinderfoundation.com/help/ http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-11-02/news/30349286_1 vet-care-vet-bill-american-pet-products-association .thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2010/07/20/Lack-of-Dental-Care-is-Costing-a-Bundle.aspxspagel http://www.joystiq.com/2010/12/21/consumer-spending-on-video-games-reached-25-billion-this-year/ http://www.economist.com/node/18386456 http://grabstats.com/statcategorymain.asp?5tatCatiD=9 http://www.petconnection.com/blog/2011/04/05/pet-ownership-is-at-an-all-time-high-of-72-9-million-households/ http://www.census.gov/prod/1/pop/p25-1129.pdf http://www.seattlemag.com/article/lifestyle/seattles dog-obsession http://detroitdogrescue.com/ http://www.fetchpetcare.com/pet_industry_fact_sheet/page/45/-/page.php http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/Lunch/AboutLunch actsee http://www.americanpetproducts.org/press http://www.letlifein.com/articles/vitamins-and-minerals-q-and-a/ http://www.mainstreet.com/article/smart-spending/money-wasters-gym-memberships http://www.avma.org/reference/marketstats/ownership.asp http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus10.pdfa079 http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/05/14/health/main4094632.shtml?source=related_story http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_32/b4045001.htm M xaging.com/orec nat over Dootalion/facts/pet ownership statistics.html s-have-lon humanesociety. http://www.powerofpaws.com/facts/scientificfacts.aspx http://listverse.com/2011/03/18/10-historical-characters-and-their-unusual-pets/ http://www.rooseveltinstitute.org/new-roosevelt/obama-v-fdr-using-media-restore-public-trust http://www.lotpro.com/prices/new/all/0/15000/ http://www.equissage.com/request_info.htm http://www.nvcc.edu/future-students/paying-for-college/tuition-fees/index.html http://www. ncb index july05-feature2.asp http://www. http://www.aspca.org/about-us/faq/pet-statistics.aspx http://www.peta.org/issues/Companion-Animals/puppy-mills-dogs-abused-for-the-pet-trade.aspx http://www.humanesociety.org/about/overview/2011_accomplishments.html?utm_source=drtvfaq2011accompinkautm_med lum=cpcautm campaign=drtv2011 http://www.humanesociety.org/about/overview/2011 accomplishments.htmi?utm_source=drtvfaq2011accompink&utm_med ium=cpcautm_campaign=drtv2011 content&viewarticleaid-61<emid=63 www.oxfordpets.com/index.p americanpetproducts.org/Pre nd conds.asp http://www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazines/Media-Center/News-by-Topic/General-NWF/2011/07-13-11-House-Appropriations -Bill-Advances.aspx