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FRIENDS WHO AREN’T owned by pets looked askance when I confessed I’d plopped down $200 for a dog stroller for one of my aging and arthritic cairn terriers. Some thought I’d lost my sense of proportion when recently, after my little guy’s peaceful passing, I purchased a $130, plush Chewy Vuitton bed for his surviving sister. They knew I was headed for the edge when I enrolled her in doggy day care—at a facility 15 miles from her downtown home —so she could enjoy the company of other dogs in the great outdoors, at $27 a day.
Am I nuts? Maybe. But if so, I’m sure in good company. People go crackers over their animals, those wonderful home companions who provide us with that priceless commodity: unconditional love. From oh-so-cute retail items and services, to extraordinary advances in veterinary care, to tireless efforts by myriad rescue groups to help those without homes, pets today have it made—paws down.
Nationally, spending on pets has skyrocketed over the past decade, from $21 billion to an estimated $38.4 billion, according to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association. About 63 percent of U.S. households have at least one pet, up from 56 percent in 1988. APPMA says there are 90.5 million pet cats in the country, nearly 74 million dogs and 16 million birds.
The group’s annual survey of pet owners also provides some revealing glimpses of pet life today. Consider: 27 percent of dog owners and 13 percent of cat owners buy their pets birthday presents, and those percentages more than double for holiday gifts.
“Baby boomers, whose children have moved on with their lives, and young professionals, who are delaying having families in favor of careers, are turning to pets to fill the void at home,” says APPMA president Bob Vetere.
Dogs, cats, birds, reptiles and small furry critters in cages also are having their day in San Diego. Established pet stores report healthy sales, and new ones are opening. Pet services—from dog-walking to cat-sitting to limo rides for pampered Persians—are popping up in all parts of the county.
How many pets are there in San Diego? Based on estimates by the county Department of Animal Services, there are 691,704 dogs in the county and 709,440 cats—about half of the county’s human population. No one has yet to count the pet birds, snakes and lizards, hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs and rabbits, but they’re certain to be in the tens of thousands.
To get a leash on pet life in San Diego, we present a sampling of dedicated pet owners and animal lovers, interspersed with a potpourri of products, services and concerns for man’s and woman’s best friends.
Pet Karma
“Cats are extremely communicative if you just take the time to look for it— and yes, they’re trainable,” says Jeffree Itrich, of the health sciences communications department at UCSD Medical Center, who has taught her tabbies Lox and Rachael not to jump on tables and counters. She and her husband, Earl, a professional handyman, share the living room of their Hillcrest house with a large, two-level cat condo built by Earl that’s color- and fabric-coordinated with the human furniture and outfitted with a toy box and other playthings. Each week, Earl plants kitty grass seed, so there is always fresh fodder for the felines.
Jeffree has experienced the intuitiveness of her “kids” many times. She remembers a visit by a friend who brought her autistic 6-year-old son. Lox, she says, immediately bonded with the child and wouldn’t leave his side. “Autistic children rarely look people in the eye, but this little boy became absolutely engaged with Lox,” Jeffree says. “They became best buddies, and it was just wonderful to see.
Personalized Pets
Karen Pechacek and her husband, Patrick Murphy, quit their state government jobs 23 years ago to open Spring Creek Kennel & Cattery in Spring Valley, a mini–country club for pets whose owners are away for a day or even weeks on end. The facility also boards bunnies, hamsters and turtles; even a 6-foot iguana has checked in. (“Part of our daily routine was to tote him to a bathtub with lukewarm water so he’d relieve himself,” Murphy says.) Cats are housed in a “garden suite,” with plenty of scratching posts and kitty hammocks. Dogs are placed in individual enclosures with access to an outside run. There’s also a large swimming pool for supervised group doggy paddles.
“These days, a lot more people are open to socializing their dogs, and they expect more pampering and individual attention for their pets,” says Pechacek, who makes lambswool mats for each dog enclosure.
Party Animals
Rich Wise, a longtime public relations professional in San Diego who now owns an incentive travel business, is well-known for his cleverly themed parties, several of them in honor of his pet beagles. In 1980, he celebrated the arrival of his first dog, Tootsie, with a “puppy shower” that featured “gravy train chili” for human guests and décor
that included large ice sculptures of a bone and a fire hydrant.
This fall, he marked the AKC championship of his new dog, Gabby, on the season premiere night of Desperate Housewives, the show in which the beagle’s namesake, Gabrielle, is a character. The menu and decorations evoked the ladies of Wisteria Lane. “I love to entertain, but to just do a cocktail party is kind of boring,” says Wise. “So I’ve combined that passion with my other passion, my dogs, and come up with fun themes. Everyone seems to enjoy it.
Feathered Friends
Roscoe, a magnificent blue-and-gold macaw, was lucky enough to land a home with University Heights residents Mary Anne and Mark Stevens when they purchased him as a fledgling 20 years ago. Roscoe enjoys a varied menu that includes pasta, chicken legs, fruit, corn and peanut butter.
Mark, a home designer, even built a large canyonside apartment aviary for Roscoe when the couple extensively remodeled their house. “Parrots are a lot of work,” Mark says. “They make noise, and they make a mess, and they can be a big distraction. Roscoe is very social and needs to be with his flock. Mary Anne and I are his flock.” The couple spends at least an hour a day with him. “He’s absolutely beautiful, a marvel of nature, and I never get tired of watching him,” Mark says.
Although the Stevenses aren’t headed for rocking chairs on their patio for many years, Roscoe likely will outlast them. Macaws can live 60 to 80 years, and some make it past 100.
“We have an ongoing search for someone who can take him when the time comes,” says Mark.
Animal Hostelry
San Diego is one of the safest areas in the country for abandoned animals, according to a 2005 report from the County Grand Jury, which cites the community’s high involvement, a commitment to reducing the number of strays, and a good level of public funding.
Dawn Danielson, director of the county’s three animal shelters, knows there is still work to be done—especially when it comes to
emphasizing the need for pet owners to neuter their animals. “Cat owners especially need to get that message,” she says. A cat comes in heat at about four months old, “so we have kittens giving birth to kittens.” In cat season—Memorial Day through Labor Day—each of the county’s shelters receives more than 30 kittens a day, she says.
This year, the three shelters will take in 26,000 animals—lost critters, those who have been relinquished by owners and those saved following cruelty investigations. “Eighty percent of our dogs will leave the shelter alive, and that’s an incredible save rate,” says Danielson, who notes that the national rate is below 40 percent. The save rate for cats is 57 percent, compared to just 15 percent nationally. Many of the animals that are euthanized, she says, are “so sick that no amount of money could save them” or they’re deemed dangerous to humans.
Private rescue operations play a big role in making San Diego a low-kill community. The county shelters work with 114 local rescue groups dedicated to saving animals—even finding homes for those that are sick, too young or too old to remain at a shelter. For those choosing to adopt a pet from a shelter, a number of very cost-effective programs are available, such as one for $60 that includes neutering, vaccinations, licenses and a microchip to identify lost pets. Additional cost savings are available to seniors.
Mark, a home designer, even built a large canyonside apartment aviary for Roscoe when the couple extensively remodeled their house. “Parrots are a lot of work,” Mark says. “They make noise, and they make a mess, and they can be a big distraction. Roscoe is very social and needs to be with his flock. Mary Anne and I are his flock.” The couple spends at least an hour a day with him. “He’s absolutely beautiful, a marvel of nature, and I never get tired of watching him,” Mark says.
Although the Stevenses aren’t headed for rocking chairs on their patio for many years, Roscoe likely will outlast them. Macaws can live 60 to 80 years, and some make it past 100.
“We have an ongoing search for someone who can take him when the time comes,” says Mark.
Furry Therapy
Dogs and cats are always big pleasers, but you’d be amazed how many residents get excited about rabbits, guinea pigs and even rats. They love to pick them up, cuddle and play with them. Their faces just light up,” says Simran Zilaro, public relations director for the San Diego Humane Society, explaining the organization’s popular pet-assisted therapy program, now in its 30th year.
Using volunteers, many of whom bring their own pets, the program each year visits more than 550 facilities, including nursing homes, hospitals, rehabilitation centers and classrooms. Playing with pets has been welldocumented in alleviating high blood pressure and other health problems and is increasingly recognized as beneficial to emotional health.
“Especially with seniors or patients who are incapacitated, giving love to the animals gives them a sense of empowerment and self-worth,” Zilaro says. “Even if they themselves have to be taken care of, they realize they can still provide love.”
In addition to its animal-adoption services, the Humane Society offers a wide range of programs to assist pet owners, including dog-training classes, an animal- behavior hotline staffed by seven certified behavior trainers, and a support group for those who have lost a pet. Further information is available at 619-299-7012 or sdhumane.org.
The Pet Prognosis
When Dr. Michael Kelly came to San Diego in 1973 to join Main Street Small Animal Hospital, the city’s oldest veterinary practice, he was the area’s first board-certified vet internist. He laughs, recalling how his colleagues from the Midwest told him he was bound to fail in private practice because specialists were required only in university veterinary schools.
“Today, it’s the opposite situation,” Kelly says. “There are so many opportunities for
specialty vets in private practice that universities are hard-pressed to keep them.” In San Diego, nearly 100 vets are now board-certified in such specialties as oncology, radiology, dermatology and ophthalmology.
Along with Dr. Thomas Mulligan, the vet who owned Main Street in the late 1970s, Kelly performed the first pacemaker operation on a dog, an old beagle named Buffy, using a pacemaker obtained from a human cadaver. “We really had no idea if it would work, and we were trying to keep it quiet,” Kelly says. “But the morning of the surgery, there were TV crews from the networks and newspaper people all crowded into our waiting room.”
Buffy survived the operation splendidly and died several years later of liver failure. Today, Kelly notes, the procedure is routine.
Holistic medicine is gaining acceptance in treating animals, and Kelly, who continues to practice at Main Street, believes some therapies have distinct merit. He once sent a poodle, unable to walk because of a ruptured disc, to a vet who practiced acupuncture.
“The dog came back and walked just fine,” Kelly remembers. “It was incredible.”
With a vast array of treatments available to help ill or aging pets—and many of them quite expensive—decisions regarding a cherished companion’s care can be gut-wrenching. For many owners, it’s a question of the quality of life their pet can experience. Kelly offers a good definition: “If an animal eats, drinks, poops, pees, can give and accept love and affection, that’s quality of life to me.”
Rich Bitches
How much is that doggy camper in the window? $5,475. And Tag for Dogs & Cats in Hillcrest (formerly Dogma Catma) has sold several of the custom-made, nonmotorized vehicles, which look like miniature Airstream trailers (but remain in one place).
Recently, San Diego Magazine received an e-mail from a television producer in London, who was researching a special titled The Bitch List: Britain’s Richest Pets. “These animals have inherited fortunes from their previous owners, and are now driving around in stretch limos, have their own personal chefs . . . even their own financial advisors,” the producer wrote.
“I have heard there are three very rich pets living in San Diego—Frankie, a dog, and cats Ani and Pepe Le Pew, who have £3 million each. Can you help me find them?”
Sorry, Ms. Producer, we scratched high and low, but couldn’t catch a scent of this entitled trio. No doubt they hate being, er, hounded by reporters and stalked by, um, paw-parazzi.
Photographs by Amy K. Fellows and Max Dolberg
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