Paws-ing to Consider Inflation
There has been a boom in pet ownership since the beginning of COVID-19. The ASPCA reports that one in five households in the United States has acquired a cat or dog since the start of the pandemic; that’s about 23-million households. These new pet owners are here to stay. The same ASPCA survey finds that 87 percent of these pet owners said they were interested in keeping their pets for two years after adopting them. This rise in pet ownership has been accompanied by a subsequent rise in demand for pet services, including dog parks. In 2021, the Trust for Public Land estimated there were 865 dog parks in the largest 100 cities in the United States, representing a 52-percent increase since 2011.