Former Professional Sports Executive Launches Animal Attraction; Blends #1 Paid Online Content Category with $30 Billion Pet Industry

Animal Attraction, an online dating and special events community for pet lovers, will celebrate its official full-scale launch" on Tuesday, May 18, 2004. The launch follows a two-month Sneak Preview" period in which the company saw initial membership expectations shattered, with new members joining from all 50 United States.

Washington, D.C. (PRWEB) May 12, 2004 -- Animal Attraction, an online dating and special events community for pet lovers, will celebrate its official full-scale launch" on Tuesday, May 18, 2004. The launch follows a two-month Sneak Preview" period in which the company saw initial membership expectations shattered, with new members joining from all 50 United States.

The new company is the pet" project of Dan Cohen, a former executive with the NFLs Washington Redskins, the NBAs Washington Wizards and the NHLs Washington Capitals. Cohens former company, DC Consulting, recently helped broker the sale of an NBA and NHL franchise and raised more than $100 million in equity in an effort to bring major league baseball to the nations capitol.

I attended a 'Dog Happy Hour and was fascinated with how easily people interacted when there was a pet involved," says Cohen. That same week, a friend introduced me to an online dating site and, despite initially being extremely cynical, I decided to join and enjoyed the experience. I realized pretty quickly that there was a need for an online dating service that caters to people who share a love of, and appreciation for, pets."

Cohen talked to scores of single adult pet owners of all ages, races, ethnicities and backgrounds as part of his research into the viability of the concept.

I found that most pet owners consider their pets to be members of their family," said Cohen. They want their friends or romantic interests to feel the same way ~ so I set out to create a place where people who love pets can find and interact with others who share the same values and positive traits that seem to define pet lovers."

Animal Attraction, based in Washington, D.C., combines the passion that drives the pet products and services market with the truly impressive growth of the online dating industry ~ producing a compelling offering to the nations 40 million single pet owners and the millions of other singles who for one reason or another are currently without pet".

According to the American Pet product Manufacturers Associations 2003/2004 National Pet Owners Survey U.S. consumers spend an estimated $31 billion annually on products and services for their pets. At the same time, U.S. consumers spent nearly $500 million on internet-based dating in 2003; Jupiter Research projects that consumer spending for online dating will exceed $700 million by 2007.

Animal Attraction will become the meeting place for pet lovers" said Cohen. Animal Attraction members can easily communicate through email, instant messaging, chat rooms and message boards. The site also features pet care information from the Humane Society of The United States and information on Animal Attraction meet-ups" and Animal Attraction-hosted events across the country.

To arrange an interview with CEO Dan Cohen or with members of Animal Attraction, or for a media tour of the service, contact Jeff Muir at (716) 817-6736 or jeffmuir@animalattraction.com. Learn more at http://www.AnimalAttraction.com

Pre-Released / Embargoed Until May 18, 2003