Six-Chart Sunday (#24) – Dog Day Afternoon

6 Infographics from the week + 1 Video (Fred Ryan on Wine & the White House)

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Lighter fare this Holiday weekend. Rather than hitting the beach, I’m home taking care of Scout after she jumped out the moving car window & fractured her pelvis.  (Squirrels aren’t gonna chase themselves after all).  She’s on the mend, but it got me thinking…  this Sunday’s 6 charts are for the dogs.

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1. Is 2024 the Worst Presidential Election Ever for Dogs?  Actual headlines: “RFK Jr. denies eating a dog while sidestepping sexual assault allegations” (CNN); “Kristi Noem just won’t stop talking about killing her dog” (WaPo); “Biden Watched His Dog Bite His Way Through the Secret Service” (NY Mag); Donald Trump was the first President without a dog since William McKinley, and the first without any pets since Andrew Johnson (below):

2. Half of Americans Live in a Dog House.  Roughly 50% of American households include dogs, with 66% of U.S. households owning at least one pet.

3. Best Friends Are Expensive.  We spent 2x more on pets than semiconductors in the U.S. in 2023.  (Globally, however, chips prevailed: 2023 worldwide revenues = $526.8B for semiconductors vs $320B for pets).

4. Feline Navidad: 68% of pet owners are inclined to purchase items for their pets during the holiday season including toys, treats, novelty costumes & premium food.  Gen-Z’ers spend 35% of their holiday gift giving budget on their pets vs 13% by Gen X (because we have higher incomes, actual human children and we’re not insane, says the Gen X’er carrying his injured doggo everywhere all week).

   

5. Pet-Owning Profiles. In a demographic deep-dive, Pew found “most Americans own pets, but some groups stand out as being more likely to do so, with large racial and ethnic differences.”

6. Research is mixed on whether pets make people happier.  “People think that pets make them happier, but that is not necessarily the case. Whereas qualitative responses were overwhelmingly positive, quantitative associations between pet ownership and well-being were near zero. [Researchers] explain that there may be too many other variables involved in people’s well-being aside from the presence of a pet and that there are both pros and cons of owning pets.”  For the record, having your dog jump out the window of your car does not make you happier.

VIDEO

Former Washington Post publisher & oenophile Fred Ryan wrote a great book about “Wine & the White House.”  He answered our friends’ questions about Presidents and their pairing preferences in this fun 2021 conversation moderated by my friend & former colleague Steve Haro.

You can’t keep a good Doodle down.  Greetings from rehab!

FINALLY, two upcoming live events this week. Click on either to register & join!