Ask Americaâs veterinarians what keeps them from giving pets the care theyâd recommend, and nearly all of them, 94 percent, will tell you the same thing: the client just canât afford it. Thatâs fromâŻa new survey by Gallup and PetSmart Charities, and anecdotally, pet owners tell the same story.
The number one reason a sick dog or cat goes untreated in America is the price of treatment. This reality should bother anyone with a leash hanging on the door or a pooper scooper in the closet. By one industry estimate, caring for a dog over its lifetime now runs about $35,000, and the cost of caring for a cat isnât far behind. One cat owner toldâŻCBS NewsâŻher routine vet visit doubled from $50 to $100, and her first month with a new cat, who turned out to be epileptic, cost nearly $1,000. According toâŻone study, 22 percent of pet owners are carrying more than $2,000 in pet debt.
Paws Chicago, one of the largest no-kill shelters in the country, reports a 28 percent increase in pet surrenders this year and cites medical costs as a factor. That tracks with previous American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) research, whichâŻfoundâŻmost owners surrendering pets did so because they couldnât afford or access medical care. For young families already squeezed by the cost of housing, groceries, and childcare, the family dog is quickly becoming a luxury good.
I grew up with both dogs and cats, so I know the experience of expensive pet care firsthand. The animal on the table is part of the family. He sleeps at the foot of your bed and waits excitedly when you return from school or work. Most of us would consider selling a kidney before we would let our pet suffer. But when the estimate comes back and the math doesnât math, what is a responsible pet owner supposed to do? Are they supposed to take out an installment loan or sign up for a pet care credit card to take a chance that maybe â just maybe â an expensive experimental treatment might save their furry friend?
The answer shouldnât be more dead pets. The answer should be more competition in the market to bring pet care costs down.
Which brings us to a merger most pet owners have never heard of. The pet care distribution market has already shrunk from roughly 15 distributors to a handful. Now, Covetrus and MWI Animal Health, two of the countryâs largest veterinary suppliers, want to combine in a $3.5 billion deal that would put drug distribution, pharmacy services, and the software many clinics run on under one roof. If this merger goes through, the combined company would control the overwhelming majority of the market, with only one other (significantly smaller) national competitor.
For the clinic down the street, nearly everything a vet needs to treat your dog, from the medications to the software that runs the front desk, would flow through one supplier with less reason than ever to compete on price. Veterinarians saw the danger within a day of the announcement,âŻwarningâŻthat one company would hold the supply chain, the software, the data and the pricing leverage that comes with all three. A clinic that pays more charges more, and the bill lands on the household with $200 left at the end of the month.
The Federal Trade Commission is taking a close look at this deal. Thatâs good news. Preventing a near-monopolist from driving up prices on pet families would be an enormous win for the Trump Administration as it works hard to make everyday expenses more affordable. If the facts of the case suggest an antitrust violation â which they very well might â the FTC can sue to block the merger. And pet families everywhere would cheer.
JonâŻSchweppeâŻis a senior advisor at American Principles Project. He is the author of theâŻPopulist SolutionsâŻsubstack. Follow him on XâŻ@JonSchweppe.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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