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These days it is not enough to have the latest sports car or the most desirable designer handbag -- no, today celebrities are not complete without their very own "celebrity pets".

 

The celebrity pet is not a new phenomenon -- no one can forget that, before his children arrived, Michael Jackson was inseparable from his pet chimpanzee, Bubbles. The world’s most famous pet sadly went on to outlive his owner, but for over ten years, when he appeared alongside Michael, they often wore matching outfits and he even had his own bodyguard!

 

More recently, we have seen an influx of the "tea cup dog" -- beloved by socialites and pop stars alike, the most famous mutt, after Britney Spears’s chihuahua Bit Bit, has to be Paris Hilton’s pet chihuahua Tinkerbell. Tinkerbell reportedly lives in a $325,000 dog house in Paris’s Beverly Hill home and she spends her days being carried around in numerous designer doggy bags.

 

The celebrity pet is not, however, just a female trend; Will Smith has at least four Rottweiler dogs, his favorite being Indo. These large dogs even have their own exercise treadmill to keep them trim and in shape. And, of course, we have all seen the images of the most famous dog in Washington: Bo Obama, the Portuguese water dog belonging to the President.

 

But it is not only Stateside celebrities that hold this great affection for their pets. The UK too has a very famous pet enthusiast! Her Majesty The Queen is renowned for the attention she gives her beloved corgi dogs; with her first corgi, called Susan, being presented to her for her 18th birthday in 1944, the Queen has since had over thirty corgis during her reign.

 

With pets appearing alongside their celebrity owners wherever they go -- out shopping, clubbing and even on set -- one wonders how long it will before these pets get their own TV reality show. "Desperate Pets" maybe??

 

 

- Anysha Panesar, YH Staff