The rise of home pet feeding, the market prospects are good, and the standard of practice needs to be unified

Temporary "guardian" for pets

　　Reporter Liu Xiaoyan, "Workers' Daily" (Edition 07 on March 26, 2021)

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　　Holiday trips, temporary business trips, epidemic prevention and control and other factors have caused many pet owners to target door-to-door feeding services.

This new service effectively solves the problem of limited store fostering capacity and attracts many practitioners to join.

Industry insiders believe that, at present, the threshold for door-to-door feeding is relatively low, and more complete industry standards need to be established.

　　The Ching Ming holiday is approaching. Guan Ling, who had celebrated the Chinese New Year on the spot before, decided to go back to her hometown in Jiangxi, but her 5-month-old border shepherd made her worry.

After comparing various plans, she chose to keep the puppy in Beijing and purchase a special home feeding service.

　　As the scale of pet raising has expanded, consumers have put forward more demands for the current segmented services of the pet industry, and the growing pet door-to-door feeding has become an intimate service to solve the problem of urban "poop shoveling officers".

A few days ago, the reporter interviewed many practitioners to understand how door-to-door feeding provides services.

Be a short-term "guardian" of pets

　　23-year-old Yu Li came to work in Beijing from Luliang, Shanxi. Because of her rich experience in pet raising, in October last year, she opened a pet space in Chaoyang District, Beijing, to provide pet owners with cat and dog bathing, grooming, boarding and pets. Services such as the sale of food and toys.

　　During the epidemic, many pets were forced to stay in the rental room and could not be taken care of, which made Yu Li feel very tortured.

"It is very pitiful for cats and dogs to be trapped at home alone. I want to use my knowledge and resources on pet raising to do something."

　　On January 4th, Yu Li rushed to put up pet home feeding and walking services before the Spring Festival, and widely released in the circle of friends: cat home services include water, food, shoveling, grooming and interaction; dog home services include water , Add food, walk around and interact.

She told reporters that many consumers came to consult within the first month, and it was not until the Spring Festival holiday that they received the first order from the customer Mr. Yang.

　　Mr. Yang, who needs to leave Beijing during the Spring Festival, said: “The price of door-to-door service and in-store foster care is the same, and the dog can live in a familiar environment. I am more at ease.” Then, Mr. Yang Yu Li talked about the frequency of door-to-door, and Key handover and other details.

　　Every time before entering the door, Yu Li and Mr. Yang have to report in advance, wear disposable gloves, shoe covers and masks, and prepare for video recording.

　　"The first thing after entering the door is to take the leash and garbage bag, and take the dog that has been holding back at home for a long time to walk outdoors." Yu Li introduced: "Dogs are more active, and the main content of the door-to-door service is Take a walk and check its urination and defecation during this period. It will take about 20 minutes to go upstairs.” After going upstairs, the dog must be untied, wiped, disinfected, fed and watered, and the whole video is shared with The pet owner will not be considered as the final completion of the one-time on-site service until the pet owner confirms that it is correct.

Market prospects

　　Like Yu Li, Wang Fan also started his own store operation in January this year, specializing in cat boarding, bathing and home feeding, of which home feeding alone accounts for half of the total turnover.

Wang Fan believes that the door-to-door demand during the epidemic has given him this inspiration. Now that there are many people who own pets, they are more optimistic about this market.

　　According to data from the White Paper on China's Pet Industry in 2020, the number of dogs and cats in cities and towns across the country in 2020 will increase by 1.7% compared to 2019, breaking the 100 million mark for the first time, and the scale of the consumer market will reach 206.5 billion yuan, an increase of 2% over 2019.

With the expansion of the scale of pet raising, "difficulties in travelling with pets" have become a prominent pain point in pet raising in first-tier cities.

　　Fan Hongyang, who is a major in animal husbandry, has more than ten years of experience as a pet doctor. He opened a cat boarding store in Beijing and provided door-to-door feeding services.

Fan Hongyang said: “Fostering stores have a professional feeding knowledge base, but they also have obvious capacity limitations. Pet owners have to bear a certain amount of financial pressure. At the same time, most people will travel out on holidays, and the advantage of home feeding will come out. "

　　In addition, Fan Hongyang pointed out from the perspective of pet medical care that home feeding is also a comparative advantage for pets.

“Although cats don’t need to walk around, but if they change their living environment rashly, they are also prone to separation anxiety or stress, such as high fever, closed urine, and vomiting.” Therefore, before providing on-site service, Fan Hongyang will come to communicate in advance. Understand the cat’s age, health status, vaccination status, and living environment, and build familiarity with them.

　　Fan Hongyang, who has a small animal practitioner certificate, will observe the health of cats more than when ordinary pet shops provide door-to-door services.

"Because I have a doctor's certificate, if the cat still needs injections, medications, or even vaccination, I can directly prescribe medications and provide services, and customers don't need to spend extra money to get a doctor, which is relatively more cost-effective."

　　According to Fan Hongyang, since his store opened in November 2019, it does not count as targeted post-natal care and vaccine services. The monthly simple door-to-door service orders are 30-40 orders. Last year, the National Day holiday even reached more than 70 orders. In addition to boarding services and pet bathing, one of the pillar services in the store.

Practice standards urgently need to be unified

　　Although he is optimistic about the pet feeding home service market, Fan Hongyang is worried about the standardization level of the employees in the industry. At present, most home feeding content in the industry is too simple, only to ensure the pet's eating, drinking and inspection survival.

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　　Fan Hongyang told reporters that in order to improve the service, the door-to-door service after receiving the order is not only to understand the cat, but also to be familiar with the access management and property authorization of the pet owner’s living quarters, so that any emergencies can be dealt with in time.

“Once the customer leaves home and turns on the indoor camera authorization, the pet’s living conditions will be monitored in real time for the entire 24 hours.” Every two hours, Fan Hongyang will check the cat’s breathing rate, walking status and secretion status. If there are foreign objects on the ground, they will be returned to clean up in time to prevent cats from eating by mistake.

　　From simple processing to refined all-weather management, the content of the door-to-door feeding service is largely determined by the service provider.

According to Yu Li, there are currently no clear regulations on the provision of such services in the industry. From ordinary pet lovers, to pet shop operators, to pet beauticians and professional pet doctors, all can provide door-to-door feeding services.

　　Therefore, Yu Li, who is worried about her lack of expertise, always brings her pet groomer Tang Feifei with her every time she visits her door.

"Tang Feifei has the CKU international senior pet groomer qualification certificate, and won an award in the national competition. It is also an opportunity for me to study with her to come to the door." Yu Li said.

　　Fan Hongyang pointed out that the domestic talent training for small animals is concentrated in the specialized field, and there is a lack of systematic knowledge learning and textbook content.

"In the future, I will expand the door-to-door feeding team and provide more practical opportunities." Fan Hongyang said.

　　Yu Li said that Tang Feifei's award-winning experience showed her that the country attaches great importance to skilled talents, and hopes to recruit more team members and provide consumers with more professional services.