Have you ever been sold expired cat food by a pet shop? Are you planning to move abroad but don’t know the procedure to take your dog with you? Do you have a Rottweiler and were scared out of your wits when the government considered banning them earlier this year?

In response to these challenges, pet shops of West Bengal have now united to form an alliance to protect the interests of shop owners and pet parents.

“We estimate there are nearly 3,000 pet shops across the state, with 3-400 in Calcutta alone. While a few big players have multiple branches, most are small stores,” says Kumar Krishna Basu Roy, secretary of the All Bangla Pet Retailers Alliance.

“Since many people adopted pets during the pandemic, a lot of unemployed youths entered this business, some even by taking loans or selling family jewellery to raise funds. But many suffered losses and have had to shut down. Our new alliance will guide and protect them.”

On September 22, 2023, The Telegraph Salt Lake published an article titled “Picks galore for pet parents,” reporting that at least seven new pet shops and clinics had opened in our neighbourhood over the past year, bringing the total to over 20.

“Pet bird and fish shops have their groups, so our alliance will focus on shops that cater to dogs, cats, hamsters etc. Standalone pet clinics are not included. We registered our non-profit organisation as a trust on July 24 and are now admitting members,” added Roy, who runs Corona, the pet shop whose flagship store in New Market, he claims, is the first pet shop in the country, established in 1958. One of their branches is in the Metropolitan area, near Chingrihata.

Plight of small shops

The association points out that pet food companies often offer gifts and commissions to shops to achieve sales targets. “Inexperienced shopkeepers sometimes try to meet these targets by lowering prices to the extent that they incur losses,” says Roy.

“This bleeds not just this shop but the entire industry as competitor shops try to match the price,” says the body’s president, Kaushik Bhattacharjee, who is associated with Pink Paws, that has a store in AB Block.

Customer interest

Bhattacharjee cites cases where near-expiry or even expired pet food is sold at a discount. “Since customers don’t usually check the expiry date, the shops, and especially online portals, get away with it. Premium pet food packets have QR codes that can be scanned for all relevant information, including the expiry date. But online stores sometimes erase these codes, making it impossible for customers to check,” he says. “As a united alliance, we can stand up to such malpractices,” he says.

Sometimes customers who have been cheated with such products online, turn to offline stores, claiming they bought the items there and demand refunds. “Novice entrepreneurs are ill-equipped to handle such cases and give them refunds, suffering losses,” adds Roy.

Customers also attempt to bargain by claiming another shop is offering a heavy discount, pressuring the first shop to match the price and, again, incur losses. “With a centralised body, we can verify discounts and ensure transparency,” says Roy.

Knowledge sharing

Tarun Gupta, an executive committee member, explains that the alliance will conduct common staff training programmes and work together to increase profitability and share information.

“It’s not uncommon for pet shops to experience burglaries where staff abscond with money and customer databases. With an alliance, we can blacklist such staff across the industry to prevent them from being employed anywhere else,” says Gupta of Animel Planet, whose first branch is in BD Block. Gupta had proposed the slogan that was approved for the alliance: “Unite for a pawsitive future.”

The group will help stores with GST registration, hold seminars with pet food companies, and hold discussions on industry trends, ethical business strategies, and grievances of shopkeepers. They also want to publish magazines which can also be distributed to pet owners and breeders.

“Our executive body members are associated with kennel clubs and so we are well-versed with breeds. We want to train our staff with the breeds, nutrition, and behaviour so they can assist customers about rare dogs as well,” says Roy. “This personal touch is where have an edge over online portals and must play it to our fullest.”

He cites a case where a dog had chewed and swallowed his plastic muzzle. “This can be life-threatening as the edges of the muzzle can act as a knife inside the body and cause internal injuries. But the online portal the family had bought it from assured them the pet was safe as the product was made of food-grade plastic. When I found out, I made them rush the dog to the vet,” says Roy.

Another area of concern is pet travel. “Many people moving abroad want to fly with their pets, and the process is complicated. It involves specific vaccinations, doses, deworming, microchipping, quarantine…. Small shops have no clue about this and turn customers away, who then have to consult Delhi-based companies for assistance, at nearly 10 times the price of what we can do here. If pet shops co-ordinate better, customers will benefit and save money,” Roy says.

And then, of course, was the proposed ban on muscle dogs like Rottweilers and Mastiffs. “There was no clarity on the issue when it happened and customers and breeders were at a loss,” says Bhattacharjee. “With a centralised body, we can fight such illogical bans and provide customers accurate information.”