...Meanwhile, in Africa...
Alright.
This is my first kind of sort of political post. No, you're lucky. It has nothing to do with the race for '08. The subject of this entry..."Meanwhile, in Africa..." is the mood that struck me today when my mom was telling me about a S&S customer who purchased $80 of groceries. $70 of which was pet food. In my head...I see some cat chowing down their gourmet meal...then CUT...I see a child starving to death. Brilliant. This is not to offend anyone...I know several of you have pets who indulge in the finer things, but I just wanted to offer a few things to consider.
First, an article from BusinessWeek (Aug '07). Click HERE.
Key Points (if you aren't going to read the article):
And another website. The Ashera by Lifestyle Pets...a designer cat. Click HERE.
No bullet points for this one...just go read the little sales pitch...and price. Oh...and this opens up a whole other can of worms. Genetic modification?
What's going on with country...honestly. We feed pets...and laugh at global warming. We treat our pets with drugs for obesity because we feed them too much...while there are about 24,000 people dying every day from hunger or hunger-related causes. (See http://www.thehungersite.com) 11 Million a year are children. (http://www.feedthechildren.org) It'll catch up to us.
The World Food Summit proposed in 1996 that world undernutrition nutrition be reduced 50 percent by 2015. The total cost would be $60 billion over 15 years, or $4 billion per year in increased spending...less than 1/4 of what the US pays for pets. Ridiculous. More ridiculous...The Food Programme is failing. World hunger will not (at this rate) be reduced by half by 2015. But our cats and dogs will be healthy.
That's all for now. Please let me know what you think. Again, I know people love animals. I know I'm insensitive because I don't have any. The numbers are just overwhelming, though.
-Dan
This is my first kind of sort of political post. No, you're lucky. It has nothing to do with the race for '08. The subject of this entry..."Meanwhile, in Africa..." is the mood that struck me today when my mom was telling me about a S&S customer who purchased $80 of groceries. $70 of which was pet food. In my head...I see some cat chowing down their gourmet meal...then CUT...I see a child starving to death. Brilliant. This is not to offend anyone...I know several of you have pets who indulge in the finer things, but I just wanted to offer a few things to consider.
First, an article from BusinessWeek (Aug '07). Click HERE.
Key Points (if you aren't going to read the article):
- Americans now spend $41 billion a year on their pets-more than the gross domestic product of all but 64 countries in the world.
- Half of all dog owners say they consider their pet's comfort when buying a car.
- There are now $430 indoor potties, $30-an-ounce perfume, and $225 trench coats aimed solely at four-footed consumers and their wallet-toting companions.
- After consumer electronics, pet care is the fastest-growing category in retail, expanding about 6% a year.
- Americans now spend $9.8 billion a year on vet services. That doesn't include the over-the-counter drugs and other supplies, which add $9.9 billion in costs.
- As many as 40% of dogs are estimated to be overweight or obese, with similarly high rates among cats, thanks to the indulgent habits of their owners.
And another website. The Ashera by Lifestyle Pets...a designer cat. Click HERE.
No bullet points for this one...just go read the little sales pitch...and price. Oh...and this opens up a whole other can of worms. Genetic modification?
What's going on with country...honestly. We feed pets...and laugh at global warming. We treat our pets with drugs for obesity because we feed them too much...while there are about 24,000 people dying every day from hunger or hunger-related causes. (See http://www.thehungersite.com) 11 Million a year are children. (http://www.feedthechildren.org) It'll catch up to us.
The World Food Summit proposed in 1996 that world undernutrition nutrition be reduced 50 percent by 2015. The total cost would be $60 billion over 15 years, or $4 billion per year in increased spending...less than 1/4 of what the US pays for pets. Ridiculous. More ridiculous...The Food Programme is failing. World hunger will not (at this rate) be reduced by half by 2015. But our cats and dogs will be healthy.
That's all for now. Please let me know what you think. Again, I know people love animals. I know I'm insensitive because I don't have any. The numbers are just overwhelming, though.
-Dan