Pet Trends

What drives a trend?  I think in short, its human psychology.  Take the trend in pets for instance.  Out of seemingly nowhere, “small animals” have become all the rage.  In a survey from the American Pet Products Association, it was noted that last year 6.2 million households kept small animals as a pet, a figure which grew by 800,000 from the previous survey done in 2019.  While it is really unknowable what drove the uptick, it probably didn’t hurt that more workers and students were at home.

The pandemic may have blown wind in the sails for purveyors of paltry pets in America, but this was not the case everywhere.  Hamsters find themselves in a much darker trend in Hong Kong.  Hamster vigilantes are popping up south of the Ng Tung River.  Owners of hamsters are conspiring against the government according to this article from the Economist.  As it turns out, some hamsters imported from the Netherlands in December were infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes covid-19.  A new underground network has formed to hide the critters.  If the authorities are looking for them during the day, it might be easier to hide the nocturnal animals.

This note has a sad ending.  Sorry to start your Friday off this way.  Apparently, many (but not all) animals are susceptible to carrying the virus.  A concern in Hong Kong is that the disease might mutate further within non-human and is then reintroduced to people (it’s already in white-tail deer here in North America).  The government of Hong Kong doesn’t want to wait to find out about some new variant springing from the pet population and is currently looking to euthanize hamsters imported after December 22^nd.   This does give an opportunity for a new trend, however.  The article from the Economists notes that mice don’t have the protein necessary for the virus to thrive, so they could become the next hot pet.