Relevant products and services vary greatly in price and quality; laws and regulations on pet medical care and funerals have yet to be improved
How many "pits" have you stepped on on the road of cute pets?
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With the increase in the number of people who keep pets, the pet-related industry chain has become more and more large, and supervision is more difficult. There are some "minefields" - the price of pet-related products and services lacks a guide price, and the price and quality vary greatly; pet medical care, funerals and funerals The laws and regulations of pets have yet to be perfected; some pets look similar in childhood, and it is difficult to distinguish whether they are pure blood or not, and merchants frequently charge shoddy products.
Xiaolin, a white-collar worker from Qingdao City, Shandong Province, is a senior pet lover. She has raised nearly 10 kinds of pets including Teddy, Garfield and Chinchilla since graduating from university.
On the way to cute pets, Xiaolin has experienced various "thunder" incidents such as buying low-quality dog food at high prices, recharging cards and encountering pet shop closures.
Even so, Xiaolin couldn't stop seeing the cute little animals.
In recent years, with the improvement of economic and living standards, more and more people have joined the ranks of "shit shoveling officers", and many DINK people, single aristocrats, and the elderly choose to keep pets to find spiritual sustenance and relieve life depression.
The resulting pet economy, such as grooming, foster care, training, medical care, and funerals, is also increasingly diversified.
However, is the pet economy market management standardized?
What kind of "embarrassing" situations have pet owners experienced?
Recently, a reporter from the "Workers Daily" conducted an investigation on this.
Pet consumption is "tricky" a lot
According to the "White Paper on China's Pet Consumption Trends in 2021" released by iResearch, the market size of my country's pet industry is close to 300 billion yuan in 2020, and is expected to reach 445.6 billion yuan by 2023.
Considerable benefits have attracted more and more businesses to switch to the pet economy market.
According to Tianyancha data, there are currently more than 1.7 million pet economy-related enterprises in my country, and there are nearly 15,000 pet economy-related enterprises in Qingdao.
The reporter visited and found that each pet store has nearly 100 kinds of products, pet food, snacks, toys, automatic toilets, automatic drinking tools, etc., which are comparable to baby products, and the prices range from a few yuan to several thousand yuan. The price of the same category of products or services fluctuates greatly.
Taking cat and dog care packages of the same size as an example, four pet stores marked prices ranging from 50 yuan to 279 yuan.
It is understood that the contents of the packages at various price levels are basically the same, including nearly 10 items such as bath cleaning, nail trimming, and eye skin examination.
The package of more than 200 yuan adds a "Isana ISB wash", which is a high-level wash and care from Italy, which can deeply clean the hair and maintain the skin.
Others, such as pet boarding, are priced at 50 to 100 yuan per day, and pet food varies by about 100 yuan according to weight and nutritional content.
Wang Jia, the owner of a pet store in Qingdao, told reporters that pet consumption has hidden "feelings".
Taking food as an example, the production cost of food produced by regular manufacturers is high, including protein powder, meat meal, fish meal, etc., and the price is high.
There are also many unscrupulous manufacturers who choose expired food to shoddy, or use additives to increase the taste and aroma of food. The price is generally lower and the profit is higher.
Wang Jia said that there are currently no standardized standards for pet services on the market, and businesses often exaggerate the effect of care to raise prices and earn high profits.
"The pricing of pet goods and services is related to store location, environment, quality of care products, and experience of nurses. The operating costs of brand pet stores, such as franchise fees, management, and training of pet caregivers are relatively high, and the services provided are also More professional and more expensive.”
Pet medical care also needs "the benevolence of doctors"
While keeping pets brings spiritual comfort and happiness to their owners, they also have the troubles of "birth, old age, sickness and death".
Wu Ling, a veterinary doctor who has held a certificate for 10 years, told reporters that the average life expectancy of cats and dogs is 13 to 17 years old, and they often suffer from common diseases such as colds and diarrhea.
Due to individual differences or with age, they will also suffer from diseases such as heart disease and cancer. Medical expenses range from a few hundred yuan to more than ten thousand yuan, which will bring financial pressure to the owner.
In recent years, with the rise of pet funerals, related services have become increasingly diversified.
Log on to Taobao platform, pet funeral merchants are located all over the country, and can provide door-to-door service, body grooming, farewell ceremony, cremation, collection of ashes and other whole process services.
Depending on the pet species, weight, single furnace or mixed furnace incineration and other project levels, the price ranges from a few hundred yuan or even ten thousand yuan.
What are the certification standards for pet hospitals and doctors?
Do pet funerals need to hold a relevant qualification certificate?
According to an industry insider, my country has clear regulations on the approval of pet hospital qualifications. It is necessary to apply for animal diagnosis and treatment licenses, animal epidemic prevention certificates, etc., and at the same time, it is necessary to provide the qualifications, professional titles, and professional qualification certificates of the employed veterinarians.
Pet funeral requires a number of pre-approvals such as the environmental protection department and the animal husbandry department to apply for industrial and commercial registration. However, the current laws and regulations on pet funerals have yet to be improved, and many practitioners in the market do not have complete documents.
Sun Yang, the owner of a kennel in Qingdao, revealed that there is indeed a phenomenon of "killing customers" in some pet hospitals.
Some common pet diseases can be cured with only ten yuan. After entering the pet hospital, it often costs hundreds of thousands of yuan or more after registration, consultation, laboratory tests and other processes.
The phenomenon of "filling pure with miscellaneous" occurs frequently
It is worth mentioning that because some pets look similar in childhood, it is difficult to distinguish whether the blood is pure or not, and the phenomenon of "filling pure with miscellaneous" also occurs frequently.
Gu Yi and his wife have hundreds of photos of their pet "Xiao Chai" in their mobile phones. From the initial cuteness and pure coat color, to the current appearance between the Shiba Inu and the local dog.
His wife Wang Xin was a little helpless: "When I found out that it wasn't a purebred Shiba Inu, I already had feelings, so there's no reason to abandon it."
Many netizens have similar experiences in the "Cute Pet Community" on the Zhihu platform. Netizen "Wang Xingren" said that pets looked the same when they were young.
Sun Yang told reporters that the cost of cultivating pure-blooded cats and dogs is very high. It is necessary to purchase pure-bred cats and dogs abroad through professional managers. The price ranges from hundreds of thousands of yuan to nearly one million yuan. common variety.
It is for these reasons that there are many merchants who "fill the pure with miscellaneous products" on the market.
In the Taobao pet store, the reporter asked how to guarantee the breed of the puppy. The businessman said: every puppy has a CKU (Kine Industry Association) identification certificate.
In response to such a reply, Sun Yang said: CKU identification on the market is mixed, Taobao can buy a certificate for 5 yuan, and it is difficult for ordinary consumers to distinguish between true and false.
Sun Yang suggested that consumers can learn how to identify pet breeds through various platforms. It is best to buy pets in formal physical kennels. Kennels with more than 5 years of business qualifications or Chonglebao APP are relatively more reliable.
"A good kennel can not only ensure the appearance of pets, but also provide long-term after-sales services such as vaccination, treatment of common diseases, and feeding and nursing, which can solve various cumbersome problems in the feeding process." Sun Yang said.
(Some respondents in this article are pseudonyms)
Reporter: Zhang Qiang