Pet Costumes Big Business for Halloween

It's no secret that I am a big fan of animals. Each week, I feature a pet of the week that is available for adoption. I have a friend who dresses up their pets each October, and have heard about a lot of other people doing this, which made me curious, just how common are pet costumes for Halloween?

According to a September 2015 report by the National Retail Federation, 157 million people in America planned to celebrate Halloween last year. Halloween spending was expected to reach $6.9 billion last October. That is a pretty hefty number, but it includes decorations, candy, costumes and more. The report also states that of that 157 million people celebrating in America, 20 million pet owners will get into the Halloween festivities by dressing up their pet, which results in an estimated $350 million spent on costumes for four-legged friends.

I've never dressed any of my pets up for Halloween, but I wondered what options or ideas might be out there. It turns out there are a lot of routes one can go when deciding the best costume for your furry friend. Several retail stores carry them in stock, there is also a large selection at various online outlets and you can event purchase them on craft goods sites like Etsy, or you could go the DIY route. A quick perusal of the offerings showed nearly as many options for your pet as you can get for yourself. Your pet can be a Star Wars Ewok or Darth Vader. Beetlejuice, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Despicable Me Minions, Wonderwoman, Pikachu and Where's Waldo are among some of the costume choices. For patriotic pups, Uncle Sam costumes are available and sports fans can dress their dog in a football costume. Tourist, pirate and Tootsie Roll are all options, along with lion, shark, triceratops and the always classic pumpkin.

Do you dress your pets up? Do you purchase costumes or get crafty and create your own? If you do, send us your pictures!