We might be spending a lot on our dogs and cats, but many of us feel it?s worth it to have companionship
Jim Gibson, Times Colonist
Published: Friday, March 16, 2007
Kiwi, a three-year-old Yorkshire terrier, has two cashmere argyle sweaters purchased for $48.95 each at Sidney?s Reigning Cats and Dogs. Her owner, Ursula Thomas, also has a cashmere sweater, but ?only because it was given to me as a Christmas present.?
The pampered pet seems the new reality of the millennium. But some argue it?s good for the owners? mental and physical health.
Thomas, a senior living alone, isn?t quite sure what she spends annually on her Yorkie companion. There?s the $50 monthly professional grooming fee to start and a burgeoning drawer of doggie jewelry and clothing, including a fake fur party coat in the second bedroom of Thomas?s Victoria condo. Aside from a variety of carrying cases, she also has buggy for her dog, something Kiwi likes to avoid, like much of her wardrobe.
?I try not to make a real fool of myself,? laughs Thomas, seated with Kiwi on her lap and a huge basket of toys nearby; the Yorkie ignores the toys, except for a scrunched-up plastic bag.
All this is money well spent, according to the Ontario Veterinary Association, which on its website documents U.S. studies showing pet ownership is both physically and psychologically beneficial.
Whatever Thomas does spend annually, it?s easily well past the $377 Canadian households spend on average on pets, according to Statistic Canada?s 2005 survey. But only about half those responding even had pets, which boosts those households? average to $747, still likely under Thomas?s annual bill.
Kiwi?s nighttime sleeping arrangements ? a mat by Thomas?s bed ? is, however, plebeian compared to the handmade miniature four-posters at downtown?s High End Dog. The red Oriental bed with the Chinese symbol for dog on the headboard retails for $800, reports Clayton Ealey.
The extravagance doesn?t end there at the boutique Ealey opened last fall with his wife Gayle, a psychiatric nurse. There is a Swarovski crystal-studded leash for $1,300 and an Italian leather carrying bag with brass fittings for $750. The shop?s crystal-studded collars start at $135, while Reigning Cats & Dogs? beaded collars by the semi-nomadic Maasai in Kenya begin at $80.
The Sidney specialty shop owner Monica Mayes admits to wondering what the Maasai must think ?when making beaded collars for dogs.?
It?s probably not as foreign to them as Mayes might think. There are few cultures in which dogs are absent, according to Stanley Coren, the best-selling author of dog books, as well as a psychology professor at the University of British Columbia.
The relationship between man and dog goes back about 14,000 years compared to about 4,000 for cats, says University of Victoria anthropologist Susan Crockford, featured in next month?s PBS two-part series, Dogs That Changed the World.
Nor is lavish spending on pets a recent phenomenon, according to Coren. He cites the 18th-century Frederick the Great, who built a special wing in his castle just for his Italian greyhounds. The 19th-century poet Victor Hugo?s dogs wore silver collars inscribed with couplets, and Nobel Prize-winning playwright Eugene O?Neill?s Dalmatian had a Hermes leather coat.
?If someone wants to spend a whack of cash on a dog. What?s the cost? So you use a second-generation cellphone for awhile,? says Cohen, who doesn?t indulge his own three dogs anywhere close to the same degree.
Some people do it for fun, he continues, citing comedian Joan Rivers who staged a ?bark-mitzvah? for Spike, her Yorkie. Hollywood has influenced the popularity of the pet as the well-dressed fashion accessory.
?You can?t go past a newsstand without seeing (some star) holding a dog,? Mayes says.
Thomas knows her indulgence might be seen as excessive, but it is not at the expense of her charitable giving.
?I don?t believe in being neurotic. I think there?s too much suffering in the world, ? she says.
What she spends on Kiwi is ?her pleasure,? justifying the expenditure the way a smoker or drinker ? of which she?s neither ? might their vice. Besides, Thomas is now more physically active because of Kiwi.
?Since I got her, I go out a lot more which I wouldn?t do if I didn?t have her,? Thomas says. By necessity, she now must take Kiwi for a walk several times daily.
Pet ownership prompts more than increased physical activity.
?Dogs are a wonderful companion. There?s lots of data that says owning a dog is health promoting,? Coren says.
A dog is a good social magnet, continues Coren. People are more likely to approach someone with a dog than they would be otherwise. Thomas finds herself often chatting to strangers lured by Kiwi.
Particularly other seniors living alone are envious that Thomas?s building allows small pets.
?If only I could have a little dog, I would be happy,? they tell her.
These revelations don?t surprise Crockford.
?People are more isolated and have fewer human relationships, so animal relationships are more important,? she says.
Dogs and cats have stopped being just pets, but become members of the family, according to veterinarian Shelley Breadner.
?It?s more acceptable to have pets and not have children.?
What?s hard to determine, for example, is how many singles are pet owners in the capital region. Only dogs are licensed here, according to Don Brown, CRD chief of bylaw enforcement. An estimated 36 per cent of households have licensed dogs.
Brown suspects there are far more cats than both licensed and unlicensed dogs combined.
Like Mayes, many of her customers are childless. Ealey refers to their geriatric Heinz 57s as the children the couple didn?t have. ?We never had kids so we spend our money on the dogs,? he says.
However, their difficulty in finding new and different dog toys and treats prompted them to open their shop after working in Alberta?s health-care system. Their business plan depends on stocking products unavailable at the big chain or independent pet stores.
?The high end part (of the industry) is particularly growing because of people like us,? says Ealey. Their best customers are 40-something single women.
Coren doesn?t buy the dog-as-the-child-substitute theory. What about single guys with dogs? Are they maternal, he asks.
Rather, he sees pet ownership as an antidote to increasing isolation, saying ?It makes a difference when you come home and there?s something there.?
The extended family as the traditional source of support and companionship no longer exists. To a degree, a pet compensates for its demise.
?It?s not a replacement for it, but a Band-Aid,? Coren concludes.
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