americans spend $62b on pets

From SKY News;

Americans spent an all-time high of $US55.7 billion ($A62.20 billion) on their pets in 2013 and will creep close to $US60 billion this year.

Bob Vetere of the American Pet Products Association told buyers and exhibitors at the Global Pet Expo in Orlando, Florida, on Thursday food accounted for $US21.6 billion of the spending.

In 1996, when the not-for-profit trade association started tracking pet spending, pet owners spent $US21 billion on everything. Adjusted for inflation, that's $US31.3 billion.

Vetere says the humanisation of pets and the many positive effects pets have on human health should keep the industry vibrant for many more years.

For the long term, he says, he expects to see a pet health craze that starts for humans and pets much earlier and younger.