Pampered (2nd draft)

pampered

Pampered

Katherine Marotta

“I definitely got the sense that some of the dogs had forgotten they were dogs at all� - Dougie Wallace

New kids on the mall

“Sales for pets are exceeding the ones for kids and pet’s food money turnover is twice the one of coffee in US and the second most common food sold worldwide.”

Pet food alone is a $42 billion industry worldwide— on par with the $54 billion needed to halve the proportion of people living in extreme poverty, number one on the list of Millennium Development Goals.

To feed the dogs of the 10 largest dog-owning nations requires a land mass the size of New Zealand.

“Even the things we own are becoming consumers. Pets fulfil a multitude of different roles — from friend or surrogate child to extension of one’s personality or fashion accessory. But increasingly they are becoming serious consumers themselves. They consume significant resources, especially when pampered like people, which makes this both an ethical and ecological issue.”