For the love of pets

Are pets recession proof?

That's the premise of an Albany Times Union article by Christen Gowan.

The owners of Paw Lickers Bakery and Boutique, located in Greenfield Center, N.Y., just outside of Saratoga Springs, think so, too.

At Paw Lickers Bakery and Boutique in Greenfield Center, business had been so steady that co-owners David and Marianne Gage were able to expand into new space in the Stewart's Shops plaza on Route 9N.

The mother-and-son duo bake the doggie delectables sold in the Saratoga County store and also market them to other stores. "It's been fantastic," David Gage said of the recent expansion. "Seventy-five to 80 percent of the business is online through the Web site."

Gage goes back to the not-so-old saw that the dog isn't just a dog, but a member of the family.

"People still want to get the best things for their pets," Gage said, regardless of the economy. "We take comfort in our pets. The last thing we want to do is cut them off."

The American Pet Products Association, a Greenwich, Conn., nonprofit, estimates 61 percent of American household have pets and their owners will spend about $45.4 billion on them this year. Most of that will be for food and supplies.

The rich get richer and their pets get pampered

According to an article on Forbes.com, the pet industry is the seventh largest retail industry in the U.S., more than jewelry, candy, toy and hardware. What's more, after consumer electronics, pet care is the fastest growing category in retailing, expanding about 6 percent a year.

And the rich and famous, with much more disposable income that I could ever imagine, are driving the growth of "upscale" services, like acupressure and pet massage, hydro-surge and oatmeal spa treatments, aromatherapy and animal psychiatrists.

Old joke: I'd take my dog to a psychiatrist, but he's not allowed on the couch.

Ba-dum-bump.

Be sure and check out the photograph link at the end of the article.

I should be so pampered.