(2 of 9)
Enormous Implications. Americans spend $2.5 billion a year on commercially prepared pet food alone to feed their pets—more than six times as much as they spend on baby food, and more than enough to nourish the one-third of the world's population that goes hungry. But Agriculture Secretary Earl Butz recently drew cries of outrage from pet lovers when he suggested—facetiously—that Americans could help feed those hungry people "by reducing our cat and dog population by 50%." For each dollar spent on pet food, Americans lavish at least as much for pet products and services, including not only veterinary care and grooming but also such accessories and services as clothing, jewelry, dentures, wristwatches, contact lenses, perfume, health insurance, headstones, professional pet walkers and sitters, and a whole animal kingdom of books and how-to manuals such as Enjoy Your Snake. Then there is the $100 million in public money it costs each year for pounds to exterminate 14 million unwanted pets.
Many of the animals held in thrall are simply incompetible with the human family. Canis familiaris and Felis domestica have lived with man since the dawn of time and adapted to his ways. Not so the wild creatures so much in vogue today. Incredible as it sounds, 10,000 Americans own big cats, from lions to leopards. A number of families own elephants. One of the most dangerous species of pet is the chimpanzee, which at maturity weighs 200 lbs. and is a better candidate for pro football than for the parlor; it has also been known to infect humans with hepatitis.
U.S. dealers import 100,000 wild monkeys a year. One dealer admits that 75% of all imported wild animals die within a year. Dr. Alan Beck, director of the New York City health department's bureau of animal affairs, reasons that "pets are supposed to be companions. Wild animals can never be. I would especially outlaw the sale of all primates. The ecological, cruelty and disease implications are enormous."
Mutts and Mehitabels. Any A to Z of the American pet culture reads like a bestiary gone berserk. Among the species to be found in the Great U.S. Animal Farm: aardvarks, anteaters, baboons, bats, beetles, bison, boa constrictors, bobcats and budgeriagars; camels, catfish, chameleons, cheetahs, chimps, chipmunks, cougars, coyotes, crabs, crickets and crows; dogfish, donkeys, ducks, eelpout, efts, falcons, flamingos, foxes, frogs, gerbils, giraffes, goats, goldfish, gorillas, guinea pigs, hamsters, hermit crabs, hummingbirds, iguanas, impalas, jackals, jaguars, kangaroos, kinkajous, llamas, leopards, lions, margays, mice, mongooses, newts, ocelots, octopuses, opahs, orangutans, ostriches, otters, owls, panthers, parakeets, peacocks, peccaries, pelicans, pigeons, pumas, pythons, quail, rabbits, raccoons, rats, reindeer, rhinos, scorpions, seagulls, seals, skunks, snails, springbok, squirrels, tapirs, tarantulas, tejus, tigers, turtles, two-toed sloths, umbrella birds, veeries, vipers, vultures, wallabies, waltzing mice, wolves, wombats, xiphosurans, yaks, yellowhammers and zebras.
The American Kennel Club recognizes 120 separate pedigree breeds of dog, while their infinite permutations would baffle a computer; 28 varieties of purebred cats are recognized by the Cat Fanciers' Association and, again, there are millions of mehitabels for every noble Persian and Siamese.