Pet care industry boosted by booming wealth

Diversified services

Besides medical care, the hospital also provides day care services for 50 to 80 yuan per day, depending on the size of the pets.

There has been an increase in the number of dog day care services recently, especially for office workers who cannot be with their pets during the day yet do not want them to be left home alone, Tian said.

According to Ning Wei, 34, director of Bobopet - a dog day care center in the eastern part of Beijing that houses about 150 dogs - the number of day care centers for pets has increased tenfold compared with five years ago.

But in addition to the growing affluence, the industry is also booming because people love their pets, Tian said.

"Growing affluence allows people to spend more on their pets, but not all our customers are rich," Tian said. "Even those not very well off come to our center and ask us to take care of the pets, they come because they really treat the animals as family members."

In addition to the traditional pet care services, the market is becoming increasingly diversified.

Automaker Honda has come up with a design for a dog-friendly car. The vehicle has wider doors and a lower body to make it easy for dogs to get on and off.

Meanwhile, Petdog, which provides services for dogs, is considering introducing dog yoga, which is already available in Japan, to the Chinese market.

Not many pet owners are familiar with the service, but once it's advertised, there might be a huge market to tap in China, according to Petdog.

Booming industry

According to Vera Wang, a research analyst with Euromonitor in Shanghai, due to the growing affluence, pet owners are spending more on expensive products and services.

She estimates that sales of pet care products will expand 9 percent this year, compared with 6 percent in the United Kingdom, 4 percent in the United States and 3 percent in France.

According to the Boston Consulting Group, a global management-consulting firm, the Chinese mainland, with its 1.43 million millionaire households, grabbed third place in the 2012 Global Wealth Report released in May.

"In the past, when pets fell sick, the owners would likely not treat them since the owners could hardly feed themselves," said Tian.

"But people are now willing to spend more money, and we are getting better equipment to support our clients."

Shi Yalun, director of a company that represents Idexx Laboratories Inc - a corporation engaged in products and services for the veterinary headquartered in the US - agrees with that view.

Shi said that the market in China is seeing comparatively faster growth compared with other markets.

Shi said the sales of the animal product segment in China are seeing a steady annual growth of about 30 percent. And total sales have doubled compared with five years ago.

"We believe our business will expand in China," said Shi.

zhengxin@chinadaily.com.cn