Despite the doom and gloom of reports about a sluggish economy, one unlikely sector is seeing record sales: spending on pets. Pet owners are anticipated to spend a record $50 billion dollars on their pets this year. At the Pella Pets Veterinary Clinic, Kerry Berry says they haven’t seen a dramatic uptick, but they’re certainly not slowing down, either. She says people tend to regard pets as another member of the family, adding in tough times it might be easier to splurge a bit on less costly things, like pet toys.