Owners sacrifice to spoil pets as form of joyful escapism in cost-of-living crisis

Four-year-old cavoodle Miss Mia has 70 tutus and a shoe collection to rival Imelda Marcos. For owner Lisa Turner, spending time and money curating the social media accounts for the Gold Coast-based "dog-fluencer" is about bringing joy to herself and the community. Bond University marketing professor Rajat Roy said research firm Roy Morgan's latest Future of Retail report, released earlier this year, showed consumers were spending more on pet supplies at the expense of categories like homewares, footwear, and electronics. "People are still spoiling their furry friends … there's a surprising increase in the amount of spending on stuff like dog accessories and pet supplies," Dr Roy said. Escapism leads to social media boom Griffith University social media expert Susan Grantham said the number of accounts created to showcase pets like Miss Mia was increasing as owners searched for distractions from cost-of-living pressures.