CASE STUDY: Is Your ‘Local’ Animal Hospital Corporate-Owned?
“First-of-its-kind” study conducted by CARE for Pets™ (Ownership Transparency in Veterinary Practices: October, 2021)

There is a common PERCEPTION among the veterinarian community that many consolidators that acquire private-owned veterinary practices fail to clearly communicate changes in ownership in a transparent way to pet owners who are visiting their individual practice websites.

The study seeks to objectively quantify how many corporate-owned veterinary practices (“non-branded”) operating in the state of ARIZONA disclose the name of the corporation that owns the animal hospital, on their individual practice website.

A “non-branded” veterinary practice maintains the original branding (local brand) that existed prior to the acquisition by the consolidator.

THE STUDY FOUND THAT 14.7% OF THE INDIVIUDAL VETERINARY PRACTICE WEBSITES DISPLAYED CORPORATE OWNERSHIP INFORMATION. THE VAST MAJORITY WAS ASSOCIATED WITH ONLY ONE VETERINARY CONSOLIDATOR.

According to Todd Nemet, President and Founder of CARE for Pets™:

“Our research shows that the vast majority of “non-branded” corporate-owned veterinary practices that operate in the state of Arizona, fail to clearly communicate and or display the corporation’s name on their individual practice websites, which in my opinion may give a false appearance to pet owners that the veterinary practice is independent, locally owned and operated.”

Many of the veterinary consolidators pursue a “non-branded” strategy when acquiring animal hospitals. Consolidators generally view the corporatization of a practice as a marketing liability.

ABOUT THE CASE STUDY:

  • CARE for Pets™ reviewed a total of 53 veterinary consolidator websites in order to determine which corporations operate “non-branded” veterinary practices in the state of Arizona.
  • Location directories and job listings were viewed on consolidator websites. In addition, we also conducted searches on third-party job listing websites. Note, some consolidators do not provide specific hospital location information on their website which may impact the results of this case study.

The following veterinary consolidators operate 77 “non-branded” animal hospital locations in the state of Arizona (2,500+ locations both branded and “non-branded” across the United States):

  1. Blue River Petcare | www.blueriverpetcare.com
  2. CareVet | Company Profile & Hospital Locations
  3. Lakefield Veterinary Group | www.lakefieldvet.com
  4. National Veterinary Associates (NVA) | www.nva.com
  5. Pathway Vet Alliance | www.pathwayvets.com
  6. People, Pets & Vets | www.peoplepetsandvets.com
  7. PetVet Care Centers | www.petvetcarecenters.com
  8. Southern Veterinary Partners | www.southernvetpartnersllc.com
  9. Western Veterinary Partners | www.westernvetpartners.com

The vast majority of individual veterinary practice websites that displayed corporate ownership information were owned by PetVet Care Centers.

Individual veterinary practice websites generally display corporate ownership information sitewide within the footer of the website.

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