BizSugar.com › Startups › Pet Parents, aka Big Spenders

Chances are you own a pet—according to the American Pet Products Association (APPA), 68% of American households (or 83 million homes) do. This is up from 56% in 1988, the first year the APPA conducted its National Pet Owners survey. In all, there are more pets (396 million) than people (318 million) in America, though to be fair, that’s skewed by the number of freshwater fish (145 million) people own. In terms of popularity, cats (96 million) outnumber dogs (83 million), although more Americans own dogs than any other pet (57% of U.S. households own one).