Weekly companion animal news: May 30, 2022

Our dogs will probably be fine without us when we go back to the office, veterinarian says

Although pets might experience separation anxiety, our dogs may not pine for us when we’re gone the way we think they do, according to one veterinarian. “Owners think their pets have more anxiety now, but that’s overblown; we haven’t observed it,” said Dr. Patrick Mahaney, who delivers home veterinary care in Los Angeles. “I often see anxious dogs owned by anxious owners who over-anthropomorphize them and don’t treat them like dogs.” Still, the trend may be positively affecting business in the pet care industry—the dog walking app Wag, for example, saw 270% year-over-year revenue growth last quarter—and surveys have shown pet owners may make decisions about where they work based on their pets. Offices are also implementing pet-friendly policies. “But if your office isn’t inviting your four-legged friend along…it won’t be the end of the world for your pet to have some alone time,” Jane Thier writes in Fortune.

Webinar will share ‘a data-driven approach to employee well-being’

Employers are increasingly offering programs to support employee mental health, but it’s important to be able to measure these programs’ success. To help veterinary business leaders effectively serve their teams, the new veterinary hospital system Galaxy Vets will offer a webinar with discussion on ways to measure and promote employee satisfaction; common mistakes businesses make when collecting feedback; “and why never hearing your employees complain can be a huge problem,” Galaxy Vets says in its description of the program. The event, titled “Measuring to Improve: A Data-Driven Approach to Employee Well-Being,” will take place June 14. According to Galaxy Vets, the webinar “will be of interest to veterinary practice owners and managers who would like to explore tools and frameworks to improve employee retention and build a people-first culture.” It will also offer tips for veterinary team members on how to talk openly about their challenges at work. More information is available from Galaxy Vets.

KC Animal Health Corridor will hold in-person summit this August

The KC Animal Health Corridor is holding its annual summit in-person August 29 and 30 in Kansas City. The event will feature a panel discussion on women in leadership, presentations by early-stage animal health companies, discussion on sustainability in agriculture, and other highlights. More information is available from the KC Animal Health Corridor.

Virginia veterinarian describes experience treating pets in Ukraine

A Northern Virginia veterinarian recently went to Ukraine to deliver care to pets that have been separated from their owners. “There were some bombed homes where dogs just remained and actually stayed there and wouldn’t leave,” Dr. Courtney Katsur told NBC Washington. “It was really devastating and it’s going to take a really long time to rebuild.” She said there’s an urgent need for volunteer veterinarians in the region. She also launched a GoFundMe campaign to send pet food and medicine to Ukraine.

More pets and more spending helped fuel Petco’s first-quarter growth

Petco reported its 14^th consecutive growth quarter, topping estimates. CEO Ron Coughlin spoke with Yahoo Finance’s Julie Hyman about how consumer trends are affecting business. “The majority of our business are staples,” Coughlin said. “Just like you don’t cut back on milk or eggs, pet parents don’t cut back on their food for their pets. And in fact, what we’re seeing is upgrading of foods, continued premiumization towards the most premium kibbles, towards fresh frozen foods.” Petco’s services, including grooming and veterinary care, have seen double-digit growth. Coughlin added that millions of pets have been adopted over the past two years, mostly by younger people who tend to spend more on their pets than other generations. “So we have number of pets growing and spend per pet growing, and that’s why the pet category has been a great defensive growth category in these types of times.”

ElleVet’s ‘veterinary relief tour’ will provide free care to pets of homeless people

The ElleVet Project—the nonprofit arm of the pet CBD company ElleVet Sciences—announced the return of its “veterinary relief tour,” providing free veterinary care, food and supplies to the pets of homeless people and street pets in vulnerable communities. Services will be provided throughout California, as well as in Seattle, Chicago, Boston, New York City, Orlando and multiple cities in Montana. The tour begins in June.

Petriage considers expanding telehealth services to humans

A new patent being issued to veterinary telehealth company Petriage means the company could develop its teletriage technology for human use. Right now, the company’s symptom analysis tool, used to identify illnesses, is available for pets. Human services from the company are likely years away, according to the announcement, and for now, Petriage will continue to focus on expanding its services for pets, CEO Joe Coury said.

Kentucky college student photographs shelter animals to help speed up adoptions

A Kentucky college student has been photographing animals at a local shelter in the hope that having better portraits will help them get adopted faster. Maggie Epling, a student at the University of Kentucky, has been taking pictures of the cats and dogs at the Pike County Animal Shelter in Pike, Kentucky. Epling heard from other volunteers that black cats and dogs struggle to get adopted, so she’s focused particularly on those animals. (Research has been divided on how much an animal’s coat color actually affects their chance of being adopted.) The shelter in Pike is in a hard-to-reach rural area, Epling said. But she added that since the shelter posted her photos on its Facebook page, “they say they can’t believe how many calls they’re getting.” NPR reports.