Welcome to Breakpoint, a daily look at an ever-changing culture through the lens of unchanging truth.

For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street.

Imagine a friend told you her baby is sick and might even die.

You'd feel shock and grief and

ask how you could help. You probably would commit to pray for her child in the

family. But would anything change if the friend then replied,

well thank you. We're hoping that Fluffy pulls through.

Well, according to many, it shouldn't. As fertility hovers around an all-time low and

pet ownership at an all-time high, more and more Americans not only talk about, but treat their furry companions like

they are children. Recently in the Atlantic Catherine Wu argued that pets

really can be like human family. Here's Wu.

Quote, calling some pet owners the parents of their dogs and cats,

might be the best shorthand for these relationships.

Throughout the article, Wu described the growing pet economy of products and services

that mirror those that were intended for children.

More Americans than ever buy their animals, home cooked foods, strollers, memory foam mattresses,

their own clothing lines, and they pay for wellness centers

doggy daycares acupuncture surgeries chemotherapy even organ transplants in

twenty two in fact the pet economy totaled over a hundred and thirty six

billion dollars and by most indications is only likely to grow

from there.

And according to a survey by Pew research that was quoted in the article, the majority of

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