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Lavish Gifts Have Many Pets Sitting In Lap Of Luxury

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 23, 2007

Pets rule at the holidays, especially dogs, and that helps keep many retailers' registers ringing.

U.S. retail sales may be weak, energy prices way up and housing prices way down, but experts say pets largely defy such economic indicators. Caring owners are no more likely to stiff their animals for the holidays than Santa is to leave rocks in every stocking.

Americans are expected to spend an estimated $48.7 billion on their pets in 2007, nearly twice the amount of a decade ago and growing at more than 7 percent a year, according to Packaged Facts, a consumer research company in Rockville, Md. Already, spending exceeds the gross domestic product of about 120 nations.

Nation/World, Page 16

•Fifty-six percent of dog owners and 42 percent of cat owners bought holiday gifts for their pets last year, according to a survey by the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association.

•High-end, luxury items are increasingly popular. A prospective pet pamperer can find everything from organic cookies and doggie basketball jerseys to $70 treat jars and $499 cashmere pet beds.

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