http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/SuperModels/InvestorsMakeTheMostOfaDogsWorld.aspx
Americans spent $36 billion on food, shelter, health care and luxuries for their pets last year, which is about twice the GDP of Costa Rica.
Something like 63% of U.S. households report owning a pet, which means around 74 million scamps camped on our couches, begging at our tables and barking at anyone with the temerity to walk past our front doors. To put that in perspective, the United Kingdom has only 60 million people, no match for our army of Labs, shepherds and calicos.