Why we treat our pets like royalty

"BACK IN NOVEMBER 2007, Utah's Deseret News wrote up a five-year-old Shih Tzu whose wardrobe included a pink mohair sweater and a fur-trimmed parka. The same month, the Arizona Republic reported on the growing popularity of puppy Tupperware parties. And in South Carolina, the Greenville News highlighted an increasingly common sight on local sidewalks: pet strollers. Such conveyances might have proved popular at the six Dallas-area malls that announced preholiday 'pet nights,' where animals could sit for a picture with Santa. Gilded-age indulgences that ended when recession officially arrived a month later? Hardly."

Why we treat our pets like royalty - The Boston Globe