PET TOPICS

摘要

Over the past five years or so, certainly since the financial impact of the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the trials and tribulation of the world banking and financial system, there has been considerable debate as to what the effects would be on petownership and spending on pets in general.Spending on pets, some economists would argue, is discretionary spending, particularly as regards non-pet food items such as toys. When incomes come under pressure, as they have done in much of Europe and North America, one might reasonably expect spending on pets to assume a slightly lower priority.Except that this doesn't appear to be the case. The American Pet Products Association's annual survey puts the overall spend in the US pet industry for 2013 at an all-time high of more than $55.7 billion, 4.5 per cent up on spending in 2012. And, as regards 2014, the APPA's annual spending and data report estimates the overall spend for 2014 at $58.51 billion, up by 4.9 per cent over 2013 and a figure which, given the US economy's recovery, may prove to be conservative.