Consumers will cut back on a lot of things in a recession, but don’t count on it being Fido. Pet-related expenditures in America totaled an estimated $35.9 billion in 2005, up $1.5 billion from 2004 and more than double what they were a decade earlier, according to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association (APPMA).
“This is one of the areas in which sales don’t decrease in a recession,” said Bob Vetere, COO and managing director of the APPMA. He cited several reasons for growth, including “growing uncertainty about the future” and more empty homes, as baby boomers’ children move out and young professionals wait to have children.
Not to mention that people are treating their animals more and more like, well, people.
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