I'm just starting to put together numbers for the year and so far it paints a very ugly picture. (Pretty picture for the dogs, ugly for the dog industry.)
Overall, the average pet store puppy price in 2009 was $887. That compares to $1019 in 2008, $1031 in 2007 (the all-time high).
If the Industry was expecting Christmas sales to pull them out of the slump, they were grossly miscalculating the economy and the public's increasing knowledge of puppy mills and the pet store connection.
The average 2009 Christmas puppy (from Thanksgiving until Dec. 31st) was $936; in 2008, $973; in 2008 $1095. Volume was also EXTREMELY LOW, however many customers don't fill out a request for information until weeks, or even years, after they purchase the puppy, so we can't yet calculate the volume of 2009 holiday sales.
The highest prices Christmas puppy I researched for 2009 was $1800. This compares to $3300 in 2008, and $4950 in 2007.
The dog industry itself has been quoted as saying that holiday puppy sales make up 50-60% of their entire year's profits for stores that sell puppies. We saw many pet stores close their doors in 2009, but suspected many were just trying to make up for their 2009 losses by trying to stay open until after the 2009 Christmas season. It will be interesting to see how many fold in the next month. It will also be interesting to see the deep after-Christmas discounts on pet store puppies.
More statistics will be coming in our Winter 2010 Newsletter. If you aren't yet subscribed, please go to www.petshoppuppies.org and follow the Newsletter link to subscribe. It is a very low volume list -- right now, quarterly, but it could be as many as 6 newsletters a year if there is a fund-raising need that comes up (don't anticipate one for this year).
Permission to cross-post this message is granted.
Kim Townsend
http://www.petshoppuppies.org
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