Posted on 02/01/2013 11:16:04 AM PST by Morgana
In a new book on demographics set to be published next week, Jonathan V. Last writes that pets now outnumber children 4 to 1 in America. The book is titled What to Expect When No One’s Expecting. babies
“The pet market has been steadily increasing in America since the 1980s, with people not only acquiring more furry little dependents, but spending more on them, too,” writes Last, a colleague of mine at THE WEEKLY STANDARD.
“In 1994 Americans spent $1.7 billion on pets; by 2008 that number had risen to $4.3 billion. By 2010, even in the face of a massive recession, it had climbed over $4.8 billion. The evidence suggests that pets are increasingly treated like actual family members: In 1998, the average dog-owning American household spent $383 on medical care for their dogs; by 2006, that figure had risen to $672.”
Dog grooming costs jumped, too, “from $59 to $127,” all of which is part of what Last calls “pet mania.”
(Excerpt) Read more at weeklystandard.com ...
Pets are cheaper, don’t wreck your car and hardly ever make their mothers cry.
Yet to have children is one of the earliest commands God gave humanity.
Plus, we are encouraged to neuter our pets.
That doesn’t mean you can have pets too.
A cat, two dogs, a parakeet, two hamsters....
Pets could easily outnumber even 4 or 5 kids.
I have customers who visit from China. The pointed out to me:
They notice that many Americans have big, beautiful houses, but many such homes have no kids.
The adults are out working, and only ones at home are the dogs.
Thus, Americans are mortgage and work slaves for their dogs, who get treated like princes. The tables have turned!
as if G-d said “get a pet and let THEM be fruitful and muliply”
but, the same increased inclination to own pets has a sad (and in my view immoral) correlary statistic - an increase in the abuse of and outright abandonment of pets;
while many more people acquire pets, many more of them are as as irresponsible as pet owners as they might have been parents
If that’s what you believe, then you should.
ok
Give me a pet over a teenager any day.
True, also there are no college expenses but their healthcare can get very pricey. The down side of bonding with pets is their short life span relative to humans. When the time comes it's not just their mothers who cry.
Regards,
Gandalf
I read somewhere that Irish Wolfhounds have a life expectancy of only 6-8 years. I can’t imagine adopting a pet, knowing you might have just six short years with it.
As if that’s a bad thing, eh? ;’)
I have doggies. Love'm.
True, their life span is a bummer.
Owning a dog is cheaper in NYC than a having a kid.
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