Pampered Pets

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Pampered Pets America’s New Prissy, Pricey Royalty

By Sue Owens Wright

If you think the whole country has gone to the dogs, you’re partly right. It’s also gone to the cats, birds, reptiles, fish — you name it. America is pet crazy.            

     Pet spending has doubled from $17 billion in 1994 to a projected $34.3 billion for 2004, exceeding the $20.3 billion spent on toys and $24 billion for candy, says the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association (APPMA).            

     “Based on Petco’s, Petsmart’s and Wal-Mart’s first quarters, we’re conservative” on the pet spending forecast, says Bob Vetere, chief operating officer and managing director of the APPMA (www.appma.org).            

     Last March, more than 600 exhibitors filled 1,600 booths at APPMA’s 46th Annual Pet Products Trade show in New Orleans, where vendors peddled everything from ferret bunk beds and rhinestone water dishes to collars for lizards.            

     In mid-August, a pair of Irish magazine publishers announced plans for the New York Dog, a 96-page slick bimonthly New York lifestyle magazine for dog lovers, to debut this fall.  Photo shoots will show dog haute couture and content will include dog fashions, horoscopes, dieting tips, pop psychology advice for canines and obituaries. Cover price: $4.95. One premiere issue story: “The Race for the White House Kennel.”             

     Meanwhile, Vanity Fair contributing editor Nina Munk has been posting her urbanhound.com website for dogs and their protectors since 2000.

Haute Dogs, Cool Cats

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