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In this Sept. 19, 2016 photo, Yanet Torres holds her Xoloitzcuintle, or Mexican Hairless Dog, as she waits for their turn at a vet in Havana, Cuba. Cuba's growing upper-middle class is spending relatively big sums to pamper their dogs. (AP Photo/Desmond Boylan)![Cuba_Pampered_Dogs_Garc_2_]()
In this Sept. 19, 2016 photo, a man holds his Labrador named Nemo as a vet attends his dog at a clinic in Havana, Cuba. Cuba's growing upper-middle class is spending relatively big sums to pamper their dogs. (AP Photo/Desmond Boylan)![Cuba_Pampered_Dogs_Garc_5_]()
In this Sept. 19, 2016 photo, Lourdes Ortega sits at home where she works to care for people's pets in Havana, Cuba. A university professor who worked nights hired Ortega to feed, walk and groom her Chihuahua in 2013 for $28 a month, more than the average state salary, becoming the first client of a flourishing small business once unimaginable in Cuba. Today Ortega is bringing in enough income to keep her family fed and able to build new rooms to house more dogs. (AP Photo/Desmond Boylan)![Cuba_Pampered_Dogs_Garc_3_]()
In this Sept. 19, 2016 photo, dog owners wait for their turn at a vet in Havana, Cuba. A handful of organizations work to spay and neuter street dogs and find homes for their offspring, but Cubans with means prefer to spend between $100 and $300 on purebred puppies sold by word of mouth or on classified websites. (AP Photo/Desmond Boylan)![Cuba_Pampered_Dogs_Garc_1_]()
In this Sept. 19, 2016 photo, dog breeder and groomer Luis Aguilar, also know as "Luis Chow Chow," attends to his four Chow Chow dogs at his home in Havana, Cuba. Aguilar said the family-run business sees between 40 and 50 animals a day for services ranging from ear-cleaning to washing and brushing. (AP Photo/Desmond Boylan)![Cuba_Pampered_Dogs_Garc_6_]()
A Dalmatian dog peers from behind a residence's fence in Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. A handful of organizations work to spay and neuter street dogs and find homes for their offspring, but Cubans with means prefer to spend between $100 and $300 on purebred puppies sold by word of mouth or on classified websites. (AP Photo/Desmond Boylan)![Cuba_Pampered_Dogs_Garc_7_]()
Siberian Huskies named Yara, sitting, and Dona, are taken for a walk by their owners in Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. In a country where cars and new homes are out of touch for even the prosperous, a purebred dog is an affordable status symbol that offers a return on investment in the form of future puppies to sell. (AP Photo/Desmond Boylan)![Cuba_Pampered_Dogs_Garc]()
In this Sept. 19, 2016 photo, Angela waits for her turn with her dog at a vet in Havana, Cuba. Cuba's growing upper-middle class is spending relatively big sums to pamper their dogs. (AP Photo/Desmond Boylan)New class of pampered purebred dogs emerges in Cuba
Dozens of dog salons, boutiques and purebred puppy sellers have cropped up across Havana in recent years, creating hundreds of jobs and a series of small reminders of the widening income gap in a society that strived for decades to be a land of absolute equality.
Move Forward
- New class of pampered purebred dogs emerges in Cuba
