The number of pets in China, which includes cats, dogs, fish and other animals, has just reached 100 million, and the booming pet industry could make as much as 15 billion yuan (1 yuan = $0.1258). In four years, China's pet population is expected to grow by another 50 million while the industry's take is estimated at 40 billion yuan. Pet hospitals are also getting large slices of the Pet Pie with business growing by 300%.

As good as this may sound, though, it's not all rainbows and flowers for the pets as the downside of the massive Chinese Pet Craze is that many animal services lack supervision and control. Many pet hospitals do not keep medical records for animals and the prices of medicine and treatment is high.

A Chinese sociologist has pointed out that the excessive pampering of pets should be discouraged and measures should be taken to ensure the pet market develops moderately.

However, pets are big business all over the globe. A 2005/2006 survey of pet owners in the US showed that 63% of American households own a pet (69.1 millions homes) and 45% of these households own more than one pet.  This year American pet lovers are expected to spend $38.4 billion on their pets.