It may be a long time before Fido can invest in Purina stock, but we humans can pick up the slack in the meantime. The industry is sturdy—it kept growing year by year for well over a decade, shaking off the Great Recession like a spaniel shaking off the water from a dip in a pond. In fact, it's been expanding at a steady 4 percent to 6 percent rate a year since the APPA started record-keeping in 1996.This leaves investors with plenty of ways to place long-term bets on pets.
Investment opportunities range from big public companies like PetSmart to Zoetis. In addition, many smaller companies are looking for private-equity investment.
"At some point this industry might slow down, but it's not going to be in 2014," said Carol Frank, managing director and pet-industry specialist for SDR Ventures Investment Bank of Denver. "There are hundreds of new products coming out."
For the full list of reasons pets are becomng a major consumer group, visit CNBC's original story: http://www.cnbc.com/id/101491970
