Barking up the right tree

If you were holed up in a studio apartment in New York during the lockdown with only Netflix and the sound of ambulance sirens to keep you occupied, it’s not surprising that you might be in the mood for some company.

With the transient delights of Tinder off limits and all human contact kept to a minimum, there has been a huge surge in demand for our fourlegged friends, particularly as they can be relied upon to be pleased to see you 24 hours a day and will never complain about even your most exotic personal habits.

Demand for handbag-friendly dogs in particular has shot through the roof, and as they hit prices per kilo that rival the more exotic platinum group metals, dognapping has become a very real threat for the pet owner who leaves Fido unattended for more than a moment.

About 4-million US homes have acquired their first pet in the past year, and this is excellent news for the likes of online pet supplies store Chewy, whose revenues have risen 47% in the year to January 2021.

The bulk of Chewy’s sales come from regular deliveries of food or other essentials. However, the company is also looking to its data analytics to offer pet owners recommendations based on its knowledge about the age and breed of a pet. It is considering a remote vet consultation service that it hopes will enable it to repel the ever-looming threat of Amazon, which wants to build its presence in this market.

Let’s just trust that when office life eventually returns, these pets will still be looked after. x

With US dog ownership up, the revenue of the online pet supplies store rose 47%