Cats, Pets | featured news

Americans spent $50.96 billion on their pets in 2011. That's an all-time high and the first time in history more than $50 billion has gone to the dogs, cats, canaries, guppies and the like, the American Pet Products Association said in a report issued Thursday.

People are obsessed with their pets. There are actually more American households that own dogs than there are married households. All together, pet owners spend about $50 billion dollars a year to care for their pets. And an average life time cost to own and raise a dog can range from $16,000 to $250,000. And if you really can't live with out your precious kitty, just clone him or her for $40,000.

Dogs bark and whine behind high chain-link fences, some of them gnawing the wire so hard they bleed at the mouths while cats packed into crowded cages cower in fear if anyone approaches.