Fido Isn’t As Popular As You Might Think!

Despite the increased press coverage of dogs and other pets in the U.S.,
the number of dog owners is remaining fairly static and in some areas
even declining.

The American Kennel Club has experienced a significant drop in the
number of purebred registrations over the past decade. The AKC reported
that each of the last five years has averaged about 51,000 fewer dogs
registered.

Keep that in mind when you read articles about how many more homes own
pets. Our population keeps growing each year so the number of homes with
pets may be growing in absolute terms but as a proportion of the total
population, the number of pet owners are remaining relatively stable.

In fact, this year a British marketing research company reported that
dog and other pet ownership in Britain is plummeting. Forty-eight
percent of British households now own a fish, bird or other pet,
compared to 55 percent in 1999 according to this 2005 survey.

There are several reasons for the decline:
1. Increased popularity of electronic entertainment among children
in lieu of pets;

2. Changes in family life including two-earner families and single
households;

3. Time-starved families that don’t want high maintenance additions
to their family; and

4. Increasing expense of pet ownership. This includes the cost of
maintenance, skyrocketing veterinary fees and increasing insurance
premiums when insurance is even available. The American Kennel Club
this year reported that the “average” responsible dog owner spends
about $2,500 (!) a year on a dog.

We read more articles about dogs and luxury pet businesses, such as
doggy day care and spas, because the people who own dogs are tending
to spend more money on them.

The age group with the highest degree of dog ownership are the 45 to
54 year-olds. In other words, people whose children are grown and have
the time and money to spend on their canine children. The Pet Products
Association reported that sales of pet products has grown in double
digits each of the last five years.

Couple these trends in lifestyle with the animal rights groups
campaigns and lobbying against pet ownership and we may be facing
a future where pet ownership is rare and prohibitively expensive.
New anti-breeder and anti-dog laws pop upevery single day.

Enjoy your dog today and support the groups like American Dog Owners
Association at http://www.adoa.org or the National Animal Interest
Alliance at http://www.naiaonline.org that lobby for our rights to
have pets.