Walmart Enters the Pet Care Market

Hello 👋 Welcome back to Weekend Rounds.

Well, summer’s officially over which means we’re officially bummed out. But let’s look on the bright side… we’re quickly approaching sweater weather, pumpkin spice lattes, and fall foliage. Oh, and there’s a lunar eclipse coming up which is fun.

This week, we’re keeping it short and bringing you the latest headlines from across our modified triple bottom line:
💰️ Profits
👩‍⚕️ People
🐾 Pets

💰️ Profits

Walmart has entered the pet care market. The new Walmart Pet Services Centre will offer veterinary care and grooming services to go along with the more established parts of Walmart’s pet business: their private label dog food and pet medications at Walmart pharmacies. With approximately 5,000 locations in North America and the bankroll to expand into any field they want, don’t be surprised if Walmart becomes a major player in the veterinary care industry sooner than you think.

Pet insurance companies want to triple rates. The latest stats from the Bureau of U.S. Labor Statistics showed that as of last month, national veterinarian costs increased 8.5%. However, state filings in New Jersey show that three companies are seeking approval for much higher rate increases. Trupanion is asking for a 33% increase; Healthy Paws Pets is asking for a 44% increase; MetGen, is seeking a 56% increase. Yikes.

GoodVets gets funded. General Atlantic, a growth equity firm, has put their money into helping GoodVets expand their veterinarian-first empire. Under GoodVets’ business model, veterinarians act as local hospital owners and hve the autonomy to continue delivering healthcare while buying in to the ownership group. GoodVets currently operates 22 clinics and plans to expand to New York City, Los Angeles, and Dallas in the coming months.

Zoetis has acquired UK based antibody therapy company PetMedix. The acquisition gives the Fortune 500 company, whose 2022 revenue totaled $8.1 billion, another leg up in the veterinary therapeutics market.

👩‍⚕️ People

Destination Pet is removing the non-compete. The parent company which operates over 170 clinics in the United States is removing any non-compete clauses from its employee contracts beginning next month 👍️ 

The American Cancer Society has funded a therapy dog initiatives. The ACS has launched ACS PAWS (Pups Assisting with Support) — a pilot grant program that aims to improve the quality of life for hospitalized children with cancer through support from specially trained therapy dogs. Collectively, the projects across six states are estimated to impact more than 10,000 children and families impacted by cancer.

The 7th Annual Veterinary Innovation Summit kicks off in 2 weeks in Kansas City. The NAVC event brings together “progressive leaders and thinkers from the global healthcare industry, futurists who are at the forefront of scientific innovation and medicine and trailblazers in biotechnology to strategize on advancing human and animal medicine.” If you are attending we want to hear from you and how the event goes!

🐾 Pets

The AVMA is advocating for the VCPR to be established in person. The organization firmly opposes a VCPR being established virtually because it “creates serious risks for patient health and safety.” However, as the viability of telemedicine increases, and the demands of veterinarians to serve a greater number of patients grow - challenging the status quo on VCPR may be key to unlocking better and more equitable healthcare in some instances. It’s a hot topic that isn’t going anywhere. In fact, it was one of the key issues at stake during the latest AVMA Presidential Election.

The Vets has launched a subscription service. This brings together two of the hottest trends in the profession - mobile clincs and membership plans.

A case of Avian Influenza has been documented in Alberta poultry. It is the first case in Canada since May 6th, and the affected farm of over 1,900 turkeys and chickens was immediately quarantined. 390 of the birds died and the remaining animals were euthanized.

Researchers at Purdue University have developed a test to detect SARS-CoV-2 in animals. The virus behind the disease known to us all as COVID-19, may have livestock or wildlife reservoirs before jumping back to people. The research team hopes their prototype can be developed to provide low cost testing to monitor the disease and provide a new surveillance tool

For almost a year, Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD) has been impacting ranchers in Europe with a serious threat to cattle in northern Spain. The disease is spread by insects which have become more prevalent in Spain due to climate change, and the resulting disease can be deadly to affected animals.