Christ painting

Christ painting
church painting
Bannerman spent $1,500 last year on his lapdog, buying her everything from canine jewelry to handmade dog beds. Laci has a fur coat and a motorcycle jacket. Laci’s home and the floor is littered with dog toys. "Laci is definitely a kid substitute," says Bannerman, engaged to a woman who owns five cats. "I got Laci after I turned 40 and realized I wasn't going to have kids." Bannerman's feelings for Laci aren't an aberration but part of a social trend. Not only do more people keep an animal, but a lot of people treat them royally. Pet spending in the U.S. is estimated at $34 billion this year, up 68 percent net of inflation over the past decade. It's an industry apparently immune to recession and, though once thought to be mature, it is now expected to grow more than 6 percent a year for years to come. The fastest-growing groups of pet buyers, according to Consumer Products & Services Trend Report, are empty nesters and young professionals who postpone starting families but want a substitute.