Reporter investigates the pet consignment market
Pet consignment is a mess
The incident of "Golden Retriever Dog Death En route to Consignment" has aroused people's attention to the chaos in the pet consignment market.
The reporter's investigation found that with the rise of the "cute pet economy", many market entities have opened pet consignment services.
However, there are also problems such as ambiguity and difficulty in finding qualifications, rare contractual constraints, and difficulty in avoiding liability with multiple powers.
market
The price of thousands of yuan air freight becomes the first choice
"Nationwide pet consignment", "pet consignment, on-site" "pet consignment, full-service nanny"... Open the search webpage, life service software, second-hand idle goods platform, etc., enter the "pet consignment" keyword, and many will pop up soon advertise.
The reporter learned from interviews that there are currently three main channels for pet consignment: air, rail, and road and land transportation. Many advertisements will show gimmicks such as "full care", "irregular video/picture report itinerary", but businesses tend to give priority to introductions. Air consignments that cannot be "reported from time to time".
"We are an agency company that cooperates with the airport. No matter which channel is used for consignment, a pet quarantine certificate is necessary. If you don't have one, we will help you." A clerk at a pet consignment center near the Capital International Airport said that the company is usually 8 pm Pick up your pet before half past half, and choose the earliest flight that departs the next day.
Two to three hours after arriving at the destination, the customer will be able to see the pet at the airport.
An ordinary orange cat weighing about 10 kg was consigned from Beijing to Chengdu. The employee offered a price of 900 yuan.
He said that different pet consignments have different prices, and the main reference factors are pet species, weight, and destination.
"If it is a precious variety, the price will be more expensive. The 900 yuan includes air transportation fees, flight boxes, door-to-door pets, off-site ground service fees, and aerobic cabin fees."
In addition to specialized consignment companies, some pet stores are also "part-time" consignment business.
In a cattery near Qingnian Road, the pet consignment price displayed in a certain software is 1580 yuan per time, and the group purchase price is 950 yuan, and the price is different for each city.
"How old is the pet? How much? Is there a vaccine?" After asking the basic information, the store staff said, "It can only be transported by air. Land transport is also available, but the distance is too far."
Many airlines’ official websites also have notifications on pet consignment operations.
The "Pet Consignment Instructions" on Air China's official website lists the types of pets, quantity restrictions, and document requirements (quarantine certificates).
It is clearly stated that “the total weight of each container (including the weight of the small animals and the weight of food and water) of each small animal must not exceed 32 kg, otherwise it must be transported as cargo." fee".
The reporter's investigation found that although many shipping companies and merchants have indicated that they can provide relatively cheap train and road and land transportation, when recommending shipping methods, air transportation is often the first choice for users.
"There must be objective reasons such as the new crown pneumonia epidemic and land transportation routes. However, the temperature is too high this season, and land transportation or trains are likely to increase the risk of accidents, so air transportation is often used."
trade
Qualifications are vague, contracts are rarer
Behind the "share of soup" pet consignment by multiple market entities is the huge dividend of the market.
Statistics show that from 2014 to 2020, the pet consignment market has grown from 21.25 billion yuan to 54.85 billion yuan.
Experts predict that it may exceed 82.9 billion yuan by 2023.
However, in addition to the "sharing of the soup" dividends, the characteristics of barbaric growth have also emerged.
As a user, the reporter consulted with several pet shipping companies and merchants.
Among them, an employee of one company stated that the company was an "agent company cooperating with the airport", and another businessperson said that he was an "agent under an airline."
As for other information about the company, no more information was disclosed.
Enter the name of the shipping company displayed in these stores in "Tianyancha", and it is also difficult to find company details and qualifications.
In addition to the vague qualifications, contractual agreements are rarely seen in the specific transaction process.
Xiaoxiao, an office worker, consigned his cat from Nanjing to Beijing last year.
In the beginning, she chose a pet shipping company through the Internet.
"We talked with them for a long time, and during the whole process, there was no contract or clause agreement." Xiao Fiction, in his negotiations with the pet agency, the other party never actively or explicitly proposed the need to sign a contract.
"Later, I felt that the pet consignment company was not good enough, so I chose to directly contact the airline for consignment. Finally, I took the flight back to Beijing with the cat, including the quarantine certificate issued by the company, the packing fee at the airport, and the formalities. It cost about 900 yuan for all of them, and it went smoothly."
It is not a secret that there is no such thing as signing a contract.
"Usually it is verbal and there will be no paper agreement. Because there is no guarantee that there will be no accidents, it cannot be written on paper." A clerk at a cattery near Qingnian Road said that it is not necessary to check pets through the store. There will be any contractual agreements, mainly because there are certain risks in any mode of travel, "I can only say that we will do our best. But I can guarantee that there will be no change from air transportation to land transportation." Not only that, the clerk said that the industry peers There are also many situations like this, "Any shipping company can't guarantee that the express delivery may be damaged, let alone a life?"
An employee of a pet consignment center near the Capital International Airport also stated that there is no contractual agreement for consigning pets, and there is only an electronic waybill.
"When you come to the door, the customer will be asked to fill in a consignment form, but it is used to collect information. After completing the procedures, you can check through the airline's official website order number, which is considered as a proof." On a second-hand idle platform, one The merchant stated that "there is no need to sign a contract."
After repeated inquiries, the merchant said that it could have an electronic contract.
Rights protection
Accidental avoidance of responsibility can pay up to three thousand
The reporter's investigation found that offline companies and merchants indicated that they would not sign contracts with users, and online merchants also formulated certain "dominant" avoidance clauses.
However, if the pets are really killed, lost, sick and other accidents in the consignment, the process of protecting the rights of users is also very difficult.
A pet consignment shop on an e-commerce platform has a monthly sales volume of "1000+" in the last month, with a total of nearly 900 comments.
However, at the bottom of the store’s detailed introduction page, there is a "special statement" with the following content: "Live transportation, airport/station and other bus systems require accidental conceited agreements before consignment can be handled. Our agent only signs the agreement and does not bear the responsibility. Joint and several liability. Therefore, we are not responsible for accidental injuries or deaths of pets during the consignment process, and it is the reason that the patient needs to sign a risk responsibility letter with the doctor before the operation."
Below the statement, a special note was added-"Please read carefully before placing an order, and placing an order is deemed to agree with the above statement."
The reporter found that similar "dominant" clauses are not uncommon among businesses.
In addition to the above statement, some merchants also directly stated in the introduction that "pet consignment only guarantees safety, and the death of living body is at your own risk."
However, in addition to these "dominant" clauses, some companies and merchants also stated that if a pet has an accident, users can claim compensation, but the amount of compensation varies.
A pet consignment agency stipulates that if the pet accidentally died directly caused by the transportation link, it will be paid in accordance with the insurance; users who have not purchased the insurance will be refunded according to the freight, up to a maximum of 1,000 yuan.
"What accidents are you mainly worried about? Loss is absolutely impossible and has never happened. Once the pet is picked up on the ground, it has nothing to do with the company." An employee of a shipping company said that the probability of accidents in the air transportation of pets is compared. Small.
If an accident such as bite or death occurs, it can also be compensated, but the maximum is not more than 3,000 yuan.
"Our company has compulsory insurance for all cats that are checked out, and the maximum amount of compensation does not exceed 3,000 yuan. Your cat is worthless, and the maximum possible compensation is 3,000 yuan; even if your cat is worth 30,000 yuan, you will only be compensated at most. 3000 yuan."
statement
Regulatory lag is gradually emerging
"Compared with general cargo consignment, the biggest particularity and risk of pet consignment lies in safety." said Zhao Xiaomin, deputy director of the postal express committee of the Shanghai Transportation Commission and an expert in the express industry.
In the past, most of the consignment methods used for pets were the "mix and match model" of pets + goods + people, which easily increased the risk of potential safety hazards to multiple parties.
"In recent years, due to the development of blind boxes and the rise of the pet market, the lag of regulatory rules and systems in pet consignment has gradually emerged."
Zhao Xiaomin said that companies must be authorized by the quarantine department and have sound qualifications before they can carry out pet consignment business.
"Carriers must abide by various laws and regulations of our country, and shippers should not greet cheap prices and use certain illegal transportation channels." He said that there have been cases where the transportation of special animals resulted in deaths, so supervision must be pre-positioned. Can't wait for the problem to occur before remedying it.
Qiao Wei, the person in charge of the Sichuan Qiming Small Animal Protection Center, believes that there are currently some companies and institutions in the market that carry out pet consignment in compliance, but there is also a lot of chaos.
"Temperature is very important. We encounter many deaths of animals from heatstroke every year. It is recommended that air transportation be preferred, and long-distance land transportation is not recommended. At the same time, we must choose a formal and reliable company." Qiao Wei also suggested that relevant government departments should issue special Regulatory opinions, "For example, what items are required for pet consignment, how to ensure drinking water and food during the consignment process, etc. Now only the quarantine link is regulated, and the animal welfare is relatively lacking." Our reporter Li Songlin