In Dr. Jessica Pierce's article in the Wall Street Journal, "It's Just a Dog. Get Over it," she writes:
Once euthanasia was the default response to an animal's mortal illness.
Not any more. The rapid growth of the hospice and palliative-care
movement for animals reflects the new attitude.
According to one animal-hospice expert whom I interviewed for my book on how we deal with the decline and death of our pets, there are somewhere on the order of 75 veterinary hospice/palliative care services in the country. (No hard numbers are available.) Another expert estimated that around 10,000 animals are treated annually by practitioners specializing in some form of end-of-life care, approximately a tenfold increase from a decade ago. Ancillary sales of such things as doggy wheelchairs, therapeutic beds and incontinence pads are rising. [more...]
Among other things I found eye-raising in the article were these alleged facts:
"Surveys conducted by the pet industry have found that 70% of pet owners in the U.S. share a bed with their animal..
This year Americans will fork out an estimated $53 billion in caring for their pets."
Wow.