When I was young we had a Christmas stocking with the dog’s name on it, inked on to the white trim with a laundry pen. On Christmas morning it would be found to contain two or perhaps three treats picked up from the pet aisle of the supermarket: nothing festive, everything edible. The dog, as I recall, was appreciative, if a little suspicious.
Holiday pet spending is of a different order these days: last year it was reported that UK shoppers spent £873m on Christmas presents for dogs and cats. A survey from last month found that 18% of Britons planned to spend more on their pet at Christmas than on their partner. While I don’t really disapprove of buying presents for pets, it’s hard to view these statistics as unalloyed good news.
