Private Equity Is Coming for Your Pets : What it means for you

Cats have nine lives – and private equity is betting that pet owners will paw up big bucks to save every last one of them. More Perfect Union’s recent video “Private Equity Is Coming for Your Pets” takes a deep dive into the growing wave of corporate consolidation in veterinary care. With pet ownership on the rise, major private equity firms are rapidly buying up veterinary clinics, specialty hospitals, and even pet insurance providers.

The video paints a troubling picture for pets and the people who love them: fewer independent options, rising prices for routine and emergency visits, and growing pressure on veterinarians to meet corporate revenue targets. Formerly community-oriented practices are being folded into large chains, where decisions about treatment and pricing may be shaped more by financial benchmarks than pets’ needs. It seems not even our furry friends can escape the reach of private equity’s profit-maximizing in health-related industries, where ROI often comes at the expense of affordability, accessibility, and quality of care.

While More Perfect Union’s new investigation offers a powerful overview of these changes, this is not new territory for the Private Equity Stakeholder Project. For years, PESP has tracked the private equity footprint in the veterinary and broader animal-care sector. Our 2021 reportPetco’s IPO: All Bark and No Bite? examined the risks to workers, consumers, and animal welfare posed by private equity ownership of a major pet retail and veterinary services chain. In 2024, PESP’s work informeda letter from Senators Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal raising concerns about market consolidation in veterinary care. And earlier this year, our analysis inAntitrust Enforcement and Consolidation in Veterinary Medicine documented billions of dollars in acquisitions and the shrinking share of independent clinics across the country.

Let’s be clear: private equity is quite literally putting profits ahead of the wellbeing of puppies, kittens, and all of our cherished animal companions. Unchecked private equity consolidation in veterinary medicine threatens to make pet ownership more expensive and less equitable, while reducing the diversity and independence of care providers. These shifts deserve the same level of scrutiny as any other essential health service and PESP will continue to be a bloodhound following the trail of this opaque industry.

Tips for pet owners

• Ask about ownership when visiting a new vet. Knowing if your clinic is part of a corporate chain can help you understand potential pricing and policy changes. 
• Shop around for services. Independent clinics may offer more competitive rates and personalized care. 
• Be aware of upselling. Corporate-owned practices may face pressure to recommend additional, sometimes unnecessary, procedures. 
• Follow the news. Policy changes, antitrust actions, and corporate acquisitions can affect local access to care. 
• Support initiatives for transparency and oversight. Stronger regulation can help ensure veterinary care remains accessible and patient-focused.