According to the American Pet Products Association, the average dog owner spends $1,542 annually, while the average cat owner spends $1,183. In 2011, $50.96 billion was spent on our pets in the U.S.
Breakdown:
- Food $19.85 billion
- Supplies/OTC Medicine $11.77 billion
- Vet Care $13.41 billion
- Live animal purchases $2.14 billion
- Pet Services: grooming & boarding $3.79 billion
My research shows that the federal government spends about $4 billion annually on homeless individuals and families, and at least that much is spent by state and local governments and private groups. So in the United States we spent about $8 billion dollars on other homeless human beings and $50.96 billion dollars on our dogs, cats, birds, reptiles, hamsters and guinea pigs.
An entire food aisle in the grocery store, both sides is dedicated to pet food. Obviously there is something very wrong with this picture.
Don’t get me wrong I have been a pet owner for 40 years. I have had 7 Golden
Retrievers, a Wesh Corgi, and 4 cats during that time. I feed high priced food and only use the best dog treats both for my dogs and my client’s dogs. My dogs have both crates and outdoor kennels and all my pets see the veterinarian at least once a year.
I am just thinking that if all pet owners contributed an amount to human
charities equal to what we spend on our pets more people would be able to have
food, shelter and medical care. Maybe pet store could have jars collecting for
homeless shelters along with the ones for pet rescue.
For as much as we Americans love our pets I think we need to also love and
care for our fellow citizens.
© 2012
This makes a point by showing us the discrepancy and encourages us to think about how comfortable we are with our choices. It's just to point out the wide difference between the two and to have us pause to think about what that means to us whether we change our actions or not. I appreciate you sharing this post that raises some interesting issues, Jeanne. Makin' us think!!