Demand outpacing safety in pet-care rush

With China's Spring Festival travel rush underway, millions are heading home or taking long-planned trips. Left behind in cities are another group of "dependents": pets temporarily separated from their owners. To bridge that gap, services such as pet boarding, in-home feeding, and dedicated pet transport have surged. But along with them has come a steady stream of disputes over safety, responsibility and accountability.

Reports of pets being injured, lost, or even dying from stress during boarding or transportation are no longer rare. In the rush of a fast-growing pet economy, basic questions remain unresolved: What are the safety boundaries of boarding and in-home services? Who bears responsibility for quarantine certification and regulatory compliance during transit? How far do the obligations of platforms and service providers extend? And what can pet owners — the primary and ultimate guardians — do to reduce risk?

Two stories show where the fault lines are.

"Mango", a two-year-old cat, spent her first Spring Festival as a "left-behind city cat". Her owner did all the homework — comparing schedules, environments, past reviews, and recommendations. Yet the deeper she researched, the more uneasy she felt. Petcare services — whether boarding or door-to-door — raise hard questions: can staff truly maintain disinfection and disease isolation? If an emergency occurs, is there a clear plan to intervene immediately and get the animal to a vet?

From a risk-prevention standpoint, pet owners should focus on a few concrete steps. First, verify the other party's identity: exchange real names and phone numbers, and where applicable, business license information or ID numbers. Second, crosscheck the basics — confirm the actual service address, the people involved, and the exact scope of services promised. And remember this: WeChat is not "informal" in the eyes of the law. Text and voice promises can constitute a valid oral contract. What feels casual may still carry legal weight.

The case of 8-year-old "Northwest", a border collie, was more telling. His owner booked transport through a major e-commerce platform.

But shortly before departure, small details triggered alarm bells. Customer service refused to disclose information about other animals on the same route. Staff also kept emphasizing holiday pressure and slipped in a supplementary agreement to delay departure.

The reason soon surfaced: the company had begun offering transport services without proper quarantine certificates and transport filings. After being investigated and penalized by agricultural authorities, its business was effectively halted.

This case points to a broader issue: when platforms list and promote these services, how rigorously do they vet qualifications?

Do they supervise service models in practice, or only on paper? Enforcement has increased, and platforms are starting to respond by tightening merchant entry, requiring clearer disclosures, and standardizing pricing and service details. But the gaps are still visible.

Even with better screening, operational risk remains — especially "lost pet" incidents. The most practical safeguard is also the simplest: a reliable GPS tracker. If an escape happens, location data can cut search time dramatically. Staff should also tightly control feeding and play schedules, ensure leash management, and limit handlers to no more than two pets at a time.

Beyond the holiday rush, the pet economy is booming because pets are not accessories; they are family. What owners want is quite basic: to return and find their dog or cat safe, healthy and ready to slip back into daily life.

The holiday noise will fade, but the industry's future depends on systems beyond seasonal demand. Every entrusted animal is more than a transaction — it is a life. When consumers defend their rights with legal tools, and platforms filter merchants by compliance rather than convenience, the law stops being optional. It becomes the price of entry.

The law does not obstruct business. It protects those who do their work properly — and helps ensure that trust, once placed, is not betrayed.

The authors are both lawyers at Beijing Kaiyao Law Firm.

The views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily.

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