The pet industry saw an investment of 123 billion in 2021, nearly equalling the total expense on dental care in the USA. Our pets are clearly more valuable to us than our own teeth! Of this 123 billion spent, over 50 billion was spent on food and over 34 billion on medical care for pets. Other services, which includes pet walking, petting, and sitting, were worth nearly 10 billion dollars in total.
While the number of places offering pet food and veterinary care has been increasing, other services such as pet walking, training, and grooming are becoming very popular in the United States. This has been largely due to the regulations that have come into effect, protecting animals and caring for them, though there are other factors that have helped too.
Animal welfare
Animal welfare is a topic of great concern in the United States. As a society that believes in human freedom and the pursuit of happiness, in some ways such values are extended to our kindred souls as well - animals. Pet insurance has been around in the US since 1982, with the famous TV Show sensation Lassie the first to receive it in the same year. Insurance helps too, and people have realized that it is a must for every pet. And nearly 3.5 million pets have insurance policies today. Pet insurance is certainly on the rise, but how is the legislation on the animal welfare front? The Animal Welfare Act was the first of its kind in the US in 1966 when it was enacted. Let us look at how the laws governing the care of animals have evolved in the USA.
Evolution of animal welfare laws
The Laboratory Animal Welfare Act of 1966 described minimum conditions to be maintained for animals and their care. This included rabbits, guinea pigs and cats, and dogs. The dealers, breeders and exhibitors had to be licensed and laboratories conducting tests on animals had to be registered. To prevent theft, cats and dogs had to be identified. In December of 1970, it was renamed to Animal Welfare Act, symbolic of extending the protection under the act to all warm-blooded animals in laboratories.
In another amendment to the act in April 1976, the US Government mandated that all animals, and dogs in particular, cannot be kept by breeders without a certificate, no matter what they are used for. They also needed to be offered veterinary care periodically. Transporters who move interstate had to register themselves and obtain permission from authorities before they transported animals and also carry a veterinarian’s certificate.
The use of laboratory animals by the US Armed Forces also came under Federal Law and it was necessary to ensure that they were kept in humane conditions.
Pets and Franchising Industry
With pet care services becoming increasingly popular, the number of franchisees of larger pet stores and care centers also started to increase. Millennials are particularly fond of pets, with nearly 19% of those aged 21 to 29 having pets, and this has contributed to the pet franchising industry’s recent growth. Older adults are also fond of pets, with over 50% of all older adults in the USA having a pet. There are several other reasons why the pet care franchising industry is growing.
Teachable and scalable
Most pet care routines are easily taught, and though it might vary from one breed to another, the overall techniques would remain the same for a particular pet. This means that techniques that have worked in one geographical region can be easily implemented in another. This also makes them very scalable as a company can grow easily by spreading to different areas much faster than otherwise.
Passion as a driver
People care about animals a lot. 70% of all households in the USA own a pet, that’s nearly 250 million people in the USA. It is very likely that a franchisee for a pet store will be a pet owner or a pet lover itself. This makes it easy to identify personas for recruitment based on the current pool of franchisees itself, possibly even by word of mouth.
Maintaining a work-life balance
Since pet care is often afforded by people who strive for a work-life balance, most pet care franchisees themselves would be based on the same lifestyle. Being pet owners themselves, they would love to work from their homes, while taking care of the pets curled under their feet. Since work from home is immensely popular post the pandemic as well, prospective franchisees can be contracted by offering them such flexibility.
Relatively lower costs and risks
Care for certain pets may be costly, but largely pet care is viewed as something that is cost-effective as opposed to other franchise businesses, such as restaurants etc. the risk levels are also low running a pet care business and it is seen as relatively recession-proof, especially because of the number of increased adoptions that people saw during the pandemic.
If you are considering starting your own pet franchise business (pet care/grooming/training/breeding), there are a set of rules and regulations you must adhere to. In this guide we have put together various acts around animal welfare and protection which you must adhere to. Let’s get started with a few of them and how they apply to different groups of animals that form a part of our lives. As a pet store franchise owner or a research laboratory franchise owner, you must be aware of these laws and ensure that these are followed.
Laboratory animals get a reprieve
The Food Security Act, a comprehensive farm bill, was passed in December of 1985. The Improved Standards for Laboratory Animal Act (ISLAA) is included in the Food Safety Act. ISLAA is a modification of AWA and it sought to reduce the pain and distress experienced by animals during research in laboratories.
In cooperation with the National Library of Medicine, an information service was established at the National Agricultural Library, to provide information on how to minimize the use of animals in research, help prevent unintentional duplication of experiments, and help institutions in training researchers on how to treat animals humanely, as required by the new law.
Each research institution had to consult with a committee consisting of a registered veterinarian and another person who is actively contributing to animal welfare. Both were not to be affiliated to the institute in any way. The committee had to inspect the conditions in the laboratories every 2 years and report any discrepancies observed.
If corrections were not made, a request had to be placed with the USDA, directing enforcement and revealing information to stakeholders so that grants for the research may be revoked or suspended. Researchers had to consult with a veterinarian before starting an experiment that can cause pain. All necessary standards had to be met during pre- and post-surgical procedures, and also when administering painkillers and performing euthanasia.
Exceptions to the standards could only be made in accordance with the research protocol and deviations had to be explained. Penalties for violations ranged from $1,000 to $2,500 for violating the AWA and from $500 to $1,500 for failure to comply with a cease and desist order. Each day of a violation of the AWA or failure to comply with a cease and desist order was to be treated as a separate violation.
Dogs and cats get a reprieve
The Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act (FACTA) was instituted in 1992.
The Pet Theft Act contained in FACTA includes an amendment to the AWA that requires dogs and cats to be held at the pound for five days before releasing them to dealers. The USDA can also move against any licensed establishment that handles stolen animals or seriously endangers the health of any animal in violation of the Act.
The June Amendment of 2002 includes increased fines for violations ranging from $2,500 to $10,000 per violation per animal per day. A bill to gradually end the sale and use of stray dogs and cats was rejected before final passage, despite being approved by both the House and Senate. It was replaced by law directing investigation of Class B retailers by the National Institutes of Health, and demanding USDA to detail the results of the study to the House and Senate.
