Petsmart: Pet Consumerism

This week I visited Petsmart, a store that sells small reptiles, fish, birds, and small mammals. The store also sells dog and cat food, supplies, toys, and basically everything else one might need to take care of a typical American pet.

My friend and the ferret

When I walked in, I immediately met a nice lady who had five ferrets in her cart. To the right is picture of my friend hold one. These pets were like her children and she was buying food, toys, and litter for the animals that she considered family.

Around the rest of the store there were new puppy owners and families with young kids picking out quite possibly their first pet. There were also people looking at the cats in the back on display for adoption from an animal shelter.

Baby bearded dragon in Petsmart

Another animal I saw was a bearded dragon. Growing up I had two bearded dragons, Spike and Kiwi, who both lived to be over ten years old. It was fun to see some baby bearded dragons in Petsmart because it reminded me of when I was younger.

This experience relates directly to our "Pet Economics" class. It is estimated that in 2016, the US Pet Industry Expenditures were 62.75 Billion dollars! That is an unfathomable amount of money that is spent at places like Petsmart.  The majority of pet care sales goes to food, which I found lining the shelves of the store. Pet products is another area where money is spent and includes everything from "needs" to luxuries. Objects such as leashes, collars, toys, beds, and clothes were all for sale. Grooming is another aspect of the pet industry that is offered at Petsmart.

Overall, Petsmart is a prime example of our society's focus on pets and how much we are willing to spend on them. It was fun to walk around the store and meet people with their pets while connecting what we learned in the classroom to the commercial world.