While people are dying from food starvation European pet owners spending € 24 b. annually on feeding and grooming their house pets - by RM

Are we losing perspective?

It was reported by the Federation of European Pet food industry that the pet food industry and related supply and services represent a combined annual turnover of about € 24 billion. 

There are presently approximately 70 million pet owning households in Europe with the European Pet food annual pet food production reaching of over 8 million tons. And this is for Europe alone. Just imagine if we would put these figures together for all domestic pet owners around the world.

Obviously no one is trying to stop Europeans or anyone else for that matter from taking in and caring for a pet, but  it obviously would also be a good exercise to put this into a more specific global perspective, especially when we hear some people complaining about the cost of foreign development aid and food programs . 

Below are some facts which underscore the above point and maybe can provide pet owners in the industrialized world with some incentives to also earmark a part of their income as a donation to one of the many organizations which actively seek to eradicate poverty and malnutrition around the world.

• 870 million people do not have enough to eat — more than the populations of USA and the European Union combined.
• 98% of the world's undernourished people live in developing countries.
• Two-thirds of the world's hungry live in just 7 countries: Bangladesh, China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia and Pakistan.60 percent of the world's hungry are women.
• 50 percent of pregnant women in developing countries lack proper maternal care, resulting in over 300,000 maternal deaths annually from childbirth.
• 1 out of 6 infants are born with a low birth weight in developing countries.
• Malnutrition is the key factor contributing to more than one-third of all global child deaths resulting in 2.6 million deaths per year.
• A third of all childhood death in sub-Saharan Africa is caused by hunger.
• Every five seconds, a child dies from hunger-related diseases.
• Where is hunger the worst?
  • Asia and the Pacific: 578 million
  • Sub-Saharan Africa: 239 million
  • Latin America and the Caribbean: 53 million
  
   EU-Digest
  
  
  

Pet owners could become famine relief donors - by Rick Morren

While there are 925 million people in the world who go to bed without food tonight (1 out of 7 of the world population) the pet food industry and related supply and services in Europe had a combined annual turnover of about €24 billion (US$32.8 billion). In the US this figure is € 66 billion (US $ 93.6 billion)

To make matters worse, world wide 13% of dogs and 21% of cats are considered obese or overweight by their veterinarian.

A suggestion would be to automatically charge pet owners an additional 6% famine relief tax on the pet food they purchase to benefit famine relief programs around the world. Based on the present  combined pet food industry turnover in Europe and the US this could net approximately € 5.4 billion (US 7.56 billion) per year for famine relief programs.

Bottom-line, don't get rid of your pet, but also think about and give to those who can't live the life of luxury and comfort your pet does.

Surge in Premium Petfoods Drives Strong Growth for Provimi in Europe

Provimi Pet Food, which supplies private label products to Europe's largest supermarkets, enjoyed strong sales growth in the first half of 2010 on the back of strong demand for premium quality products, it announced today.

The multinational recorded EUR115m of sales from January to June - a six per cent increase on the first half of 2009 - as it capitalised on its position as preferred supplier to large retail chains and won several large retail supplier contracts across Europe.

Provimi Pet Food (PPF), which operates in 28 European markets, enjoyed double-digit growth in several countries including 190% in Russia, 26% in Poland and 20% in Romania.

For more: Surge in Premium Petfoods Drives Strong Growth for Provimi in Europe

160 million malnourished children losing the battle for food against the worlds spoiled and pampered pets

Spending on pet supplies and over-the-counter medicines for pets is projected to reach about euro 8 billion in the US this year alone. Records also show people will continue to be spending above and beyond on their pets, in particular as the population ages and pets start taking the place of children at home. Consequently pets have drawn more and more the attention of large retailers and institutional investors, who have been expanding quite aggressively into this lucrative "pet space".

Pet products and services are now also catching up with the growing popularity of review sites such as www.petinsurancereview.com, product reviews on Amazon.com, and instantaneous feedback on Twitter. Blogs such as Pet Connection, Pet Sit USA and Dolittler continue to provide high quality commentary on all aspects of pet news and issues, and are expanding their reach and depth across the "pet web". The number of pet bloggers also continues to grow and the best are even more accessible on the blog list website Alltop pets. There is even a proposal in the US Congress to allow taxpayers to deduct up to euro 3,000-a-year in pet care expenses, including vet care.

Is this really fair?  No  it isn't, especially if we know that : 1) The World Health Organization estimates that one-third of the world is well-fed, one-third is under-fed one-third is starving- 2)That Since you've read this at least 200 people have died of starvation. Over 4 million will die this year alone. 3) One in twelve people worldwide is malnourished, including 160 million children under the age of 5. 4)The Indian subcontinent has nearly half the world's hungry people. Africa and the rest of Asia together have approximately 40%, and the remaining hungry people are found in Latin America and other parts of the world. 5) The Indian subcontinent has nearly half the world's hungry people. Africa and the rest of Asia together have approximately 40%, and the remaining hungry people are found in Latin America and other parts of the world. 6) Nearly one in four people, 1.3 billion - a majority of humanity - live on less than $1 per day, far less than what people in the Western world spend on their pets per day.

No one is suggesting not to have pets, or not to spoil them. What would be fair, however,  is for governments of affluent countries like the US, EU, and Asia to impose a small tax on all pet products, foods and services, and earmark these collected funds for UN programs which deal with human suffering in the world.

In this way "the Jones family" who took their poodle to a "poodle boutique" for it to get groomed,  followed up by a delicious " vitamin filled gourmet can of dog food"  can be happy to know they also did a good deed.  For by law, a small percentage of the bill they paid, to take care of their dearly loved poodle, would also be feeding a hungry child somewhere in the world they probably never knew even existed.

It is known as compassion for your fellow human beings.

EU-Digest 
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