FUR-BABY BOOM

Millennials are taking the fur-baby phenomenon to the next level. But as Alley Pascoe reports, there’s a very good reason we’ve started to treat our pets like children

- Alley Pascoe

Being dissed by the Pope wasn’t on my 2022 bingo card, but here we are. According to the head of the Catholic Church, people who choose to have pets over children – that’s me and a whole heap of my millennial mates – are being selfish and eroding the very fabric of humanity. Ouch.

When the pontiff’s insult made headlines in January, it struck a nerve, and I felt an overwhelming desire to defend my life choices. But then my rescue dog, Daisy, curled up next to me on the couch and sighed, and suddenly the comments of a childless 85-yearold virgin on the other side of the world didn’t seem to matter so much. I adopted Daisy from the Alice Springs Animal Shelter last year during a midlife crisis of sorts. After a breakup, a series of moves and a career change, I was feeling lost in the world. I wanted some stability, a reason to get out of bed in the morning and unconditional love – and I wanted it in the shape of a kelpie x german shepherd.

I’m far from alone in my yearning. If you’ve recently been to a cafe and tripped over a hopscotch maze of water bowls, walked past a park (any park), or watched a dozen videos in a row of lost puppies being reunited with their owners, you’ll know it’s a dog’s world, we’re just living in it.

Pet ownership in Australia has hit record highs since the pandemic and, according to a survey conducted by Animal Medicines Australia, 69 per cent of households now own a pet. It’s millennials who are leading the charge and finding a sense of purpose via animals, with more than 60 per cent of people aged 26–41 owning a pet.