AP-Petside Poll: Pet Holiday Gift Spending Up in 2009

Although spending for friends and loved ones is expected to fall this Holiday season, more people plan to buy presents for their pets this year compared to last year.

An AP-Petside.com poll revealed that 52 percent of pet owners plan to purchase a holiday gift for their pet this year.

Last year only 43 percent of pet owners answered "yes" to the same question. This is a 9 percent increase in people planning on pet holiday gifting, even as the economy continues to suffer and unemployment rises.

Comparatively, according to a recent AP-GfK poll, 93 percent of Americans say they'll spend less or about the same as last year on their holiday shopping.

So while nephews and nieces may not be getting as many goodies, it appears more pets will be recieving a visit from Santa this year.

This data resonates with an earlier AP-Petside poll showing that 50 percent of pet owners consider pets full members of their household, as much as any person. Read more about that poll here.

More Polls:

Poll: How Safe are America's Pets?

Poll: Most Pet Owners Say They Can "Talk" with Pets

Poll: American's Often Treat Pets like Humans