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America: Land of Doggy Doping
The business of pet pharmacology is booming
By Lev Weinstein
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Posted Jul 10, 08 7:07 AM CDT
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(Newser)
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Americans spent $49 billion on their pets last year, with an ever-growing percentage paying for treatment of behavioral issues with tailor-made psychotropics, reports James Vlahos in the New York Times Magazine. Frustrated owners are feeding dogs drugs like Reconcile—beef-flavored Prozac—-for "mental illnesses that eerily resemble human ones," from separation anxiety to compusive disorder. There are even doggy diet pills.
"Owners want their pets to be more like little well-behaved children," says one industry observer. "People always want the magic pill," a veterinarian adds. For some, however, drugs may be the only thing saving a beloved out-of-control animal from euthanasia. "It's a lifesaving thing," says another vet.