1st Place FFA Speaking Contest Winner’s Speech Positive and Future Aspects of the Pet Industry By Riley Buttress | Summersville FFA “RILEY!! RILEYYYY!!!! GET IN HERE AND TAKE CARE OF THIS RABBIT!!!”
2022). Some pets are being trained to assist in the medical field. Dogs are used to help detect medical issues in ways such as finding cancer, sensing when someone has malaria, and even when someone has Covid-19! Dogs that have been trained to detect Covid-19 have had a 97% success rate in identifying positive cases as of June 2022. Pets are also trained to assist with therapy procedures in all areas, helping to lower stress and anxiety levels, leading to more effective therapy sessions. (Wein, 2018) Interacting with pets has been
Oh sorry, that was just one of the common phrases shouted around my house due to my pet rabbit, Waffles. Waffles, while only one very spoiled rabbit, is part of a very large global industry, the pet industry. The pet industry is the sum of an the businesses in the world that make a profit by selling goods and providing services for pets. This includes veterinary care, food, toys, shelter, and bedding (Queen, 2022). Millennials, the group of people who were born between the early 1980’s and the late 1990’s, care a lot about their pets. And when I say a lot, I mean a whole lot. In fact, 86% of millennials say that they would be willing to take up to a 20% pay cut if they were allowed to bring their pets to work with them everyday (Mejia, 2018)! While many of you may think this is crazy, take a moment and consider this next fact, many people are starting to adopt pets instead of having children. As a matter of fact, there has been a 28% increase in pet adoptions since 2020. Pets are what is filling the void in their lives not being filled by a spouse or children. Now when you think of pets, you probably think of cats and dogs. While these are two top picks for a pet, there are many others to choose from. Lizards, hamsters, and birds are also good choices: 4.5% of households in the U.S. own a reptile as a pet, 27% own a hamster, and 9.9% own a bird (Roberts, 2022). As of this year, 70% of all households in the U.S. own at least one pet of some kind (Lemonade,
proven to help lower blood pressure and levels of cortisol, which is a stress- related hormone. Pets can also enhance your mood, increase feelings of social
support, and help minimize stress levels. Some pets are better at helping with different types of activities. For example, when you walk your dog, you increase your physical activity level and when you watch your fish swim around its tank, it can help lower your stress and anxiety levels. (Wein, 2018) With saying all of this, it’s easy to see that pets are very important in today’s culture. Society places much emphasis on caring for and pampering their pets. Self-cleaning litter boxes, pet costumes, and calming beds are just three of the many new products that people are buying for their pets. There are also items like the GoPro Fetch camera, which straps to your pet with a harness and captures their point of view on this world. Another piece of technology that the pet industry has introduced are pet fountains. These fountains give owners a
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