Weekly Companion Animal News: December 9, 2024
EVS Pet Urgent Care opens in Upstate New York
EVS Pet Urgent Care opened its first practice in New York state in North Tonawanda, the company’s fourth nationwide location. EVS focuses on performing full diagnostic evaluations and X-rays in-house, informing primary care vets on whether a pet needs a procedure or not. The company was founded in Northbrook, Illinois, two years ago by Dr. Jordana Eisenstein Rosen.
Central Bark announces franchise agreement in Connecticut
Dog care franchise Central Bark announced its first franchise agreement in Connecticut, marking it the 12th state to enter the brand’s footprint. The location will be in Danbury, and is set to open in early 2025. Central Bark typically features indoor space and an outdoor play area for playgroups, group skills work, rest periods and one-on-one enrichment sessions. Founded in 2003, the Central Bark franchise system now operates under the name Barkley Ventures Franchising, LLC.
Chewy Q3 sales up 4.8% year over year
Chewy reported net sales of $2.88 billion in Q3 2024, a 4.8% year-over-year increase. Net income was $3.9 million, including share-based compensation expense and related taxes of $80.4 million, and gross margin 29.3%, an increase of 80 basis points year over year.
Jaguar Health seeks investors for general canine diarrhea Rx
Jaguar Health announced it would attend the most recent Pet Connect conference in Los Angeles to seek partners to fund the development and commercialization of NP300, the company’s prescription drug candidate for the treatment of general, non-infectious diarrhea in dogs. NP300 has a similar mechanism of action to Canalevia®-CA1, Jaguar’s conditionally approved prescription drug for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced diarrhea in dogs.
Patterson Companies reports mixed results for Q2 2025
Patterson Companies Inc. net income for Q2 2025 was $26.8 million, compared to $40 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2024. In the Animal Health segment, reported net sales for Q2 2025 were $1.05 billion. Internal sales increased 1.9% compared to the fiscal 2024 second quarter. Compared to the prior year period, internal sales of consumables increased 1.6%, equipment increased 1.4% and value-added services increased 17.1%.
Petcurean premium pet foods available through Southeast Pet
Pet food maker Petcurean announced its premium lines – Go! Solutions and Now Fresh – are now available at pet specialty retailers served by Atlanta-based Southeast Pet. The distributor’s 133,000-square-foot distribution center supplies retailers in six Southeastern states.
FDA expands monthly parasiticide label
The FDA has approved a new indication for a monthly fluralaner chewable tablet (Bravecto 1-Month; Intervet and Merck Animal Health). The expanded use now includes treatment and control of Asian longhorned tick (Haemaphysalis longicornis) infestation for one month in canines ages 8 weeks and older weighing 4.4 lbs or more.
Corporate Transparency Act on hold
The Corporate Transparency Act, which calls for U.S. businesses to report stakeholder information to the Treasury Department, was preliminarily blocked nationwide by a Texas federal court. A lawsuit filed by a family-run firearms and tactical gear retailer, among other co-plaintiff businesses and the Libertarian Party of Mississippi, alleged that the Act falls outside of Congress’ powers to regulate interstate and foreign commerce.
