BUSINESS
Walmart Goes Nationwide for Pet Insurance, Leaving Its Own Partner at the Altar
America’s most popular retailer, Walmart, is adding to its recently launched suite of pet products and in-store pet services by teaming up with the most popular pet insurance provider, Nationwide…However, the new Walmart-Nationwide alliance may have come as a surprise to Walmart’s other pet insurance partner, Petplan – including Petplan CEO Paul Guyardo.
Pet food company responsible for 70+ dog deaths hires veterinarian with ties to team helping FDA investigate it
Who better for a company to hire for outreach to grief-stricken owners who feel betrayed than a respected veterinarian with ties to the academics helping to investigate the company?
Delta lifts ban on pitbulls that meet service dog requirements, emotional support animals permanently grounded
There’s something unique about Delta’s announcement today. Delta — the airline which led the move to ban “pitbull-type dogs” following a series of violent incidents inflight involving pitbulls traveling as emotional support animals — also becomes the first major U.S. carrier to announce the removal of its pit-bull ban today. “Delta will lift its ban on pitbull-type dogs that meet documentation requirements for trained service animals,” the announcement says.
Death toll from Sportmix pet food recall said to be rising: “I am aware of approximately 40 deaths,” veterinarian tells TCR
The number of dogs fatally poisoned by contaminated food that the FDA announced was being recalled after at least 28 dogs died and eight became sick appears to be rising.
“Online puppy scams rising sharply” due to surge in demand for pandemic puppies, Better Business Bureau says
In a new report from the Better Business Bureau, the organization advised “extreme caution when shopping for a pet online, especially considering scammers’ evolving tactics.” The BBB says it has received almost 4,000 pet fraud reports in 2020 from the U.S. and Canada.
Amazon informs customers by email that they’ve been getting fake pet meds
Fake meds disable at least one dog, TCR has learned–and Amazon declines to say how many more….On September 25, Amazon emailed Janay Rittgers of El Paso, Texas with alarming news. The over-the-counter ear solution she had been buying from the e-commerce giant for at least the past six months to help treat her ten-year-old bull terrier Zoe’s now acutely infected ears was counterfeit.
Amazon was selling fake pet meds, manufacturer says
Much more reporting to follow–Pet King Brands, which makes ZYMOX, a popular over-the-counter hydrocortisone ear solution for pets, announced late last week that it had discovered counterfeit “Zymox” products on Amazon. Pet King Brands says it was “able to detect the counterfeit products through its quality and safety enforcement program.”
Dodo parent company Group Nine Media, Inc. takes minority stake in pet insurance company Petplan
Digital media company Group Nine Media Inc., which is backed by Discovery Inc. and owns The Dodo (“emotionally and visually compelling, highly sharable” animal content), has taken a minority stake in pet insurance company Petplan, the companies announced in a joint press release yesterday.
