The PDSA has published its 2016 PDSA Animal Wellbeing (PAW) Report which this year highlights the poor level of research done by prospective owners before they acquire a pet, in turn highlighting an opportunity for practices to start building relationships with clients earlier on in their pet-owning 'journey'.

The 2016 PAW Report, in which 4252 dog, cat and rabbit owners were surveyed by YouGov, found that 24% (an estimated 5.2M) of owners did no research at all before buying a pet. 

Only 5% of prospective owners spoke with a veterinary professional before buying an animal. 

This raises the question of whether practices could be doing more to engage with prospective pet owners, by offering free or low-cost pre-purchase consultations with a veterinary nurse which offer advice about suitable pets and breeds to fit with the buyer's lifestyle.

The PAW Report also discovered that 65% of prospective pet owners were unaware of the five welfare needs. Many also dramatically underestimate the financial implications of owning a pet with 12% of owners believing their pet would only cost up to £500 over their entire lifetime. Overall, 98% of respondents underestimated the lifetime cost of owning their pet to some degree.

Buying pets from inappropriate sources was another major concern, with 23% of veterinary professionals identifying this as one of most critical issues which they would choose to resolve tomorrow. 50% of owners said they would consider getting a pet from a private, classified online advert. 18% of owners said they would still consider getting a puppy from a puppy farm, while others would consider getting a pet from an advert posted on social media (37%), from a pet supermarket (41%), or a pet that has been imported from abroad (28%). 

A pre-purchase consultation could help address all of these issues, helping to set the owner's expectations about costs, educate them about the five welfare needs and steer them in the direction of reputable source to buy their new pet.

Such consultations would obviously need to be marketed beyond existing clients in the waiting room, but could be added to existing marketing materials used in the local media and added to the practice website ('Thinking of buying a pet, talk to us first'). 

To help practices that want to engage with potential pet owners in this way, the PDSA has launched a free ‘Which Pet?’ consultation framework for veterinary teams. The materials include client and explanatory vet team booklets, marketing materials and an e-learning CPD module. They can all be accessed free of charge on PDSA’s website at: pdsa.org.uk/whichpet

Commenting on the PAW Report findings, Sean Wensley, PDSA senior veterinary surgeon, said: "There is little doubt that we’re a nation of animal-lovers. But the PAW Report highlights that impulse-buying pets is still an issue of great concern, and shows no signs of improving. Little or no research before getting a pet means owners have limited understanding of what their pets require throughout their lives, which is undoubtedly leading to an array of other troubling pet welfare problems."

Other key findings:

• 92% of dogs have now been microchipped, an increase from 70% in 2011.
• 66% of dog owners, 63% of cat owners and 43% of rabbit owners reported that their pet showed at least one behaviour they’d like to change.
• Vets fear a complete lack of care for rabbits, as 45% of the profession select this as one of the key issues regarding rabbits. Rabbits are spending an average of 12 hours per day in their hutch. 52% of these popular pets still live alone – equating to around 780,000 lonely rabbits in the UK, despite needing the company of another compatible rabbit.
• Cats continue to be at risk of chronic stress as 21% – around 2.3 million – are living in households with other cats they don’t get along with.
• 51% of vet professionals report that they’ve seen an increase in pets who have been bitten by a dog over the last two years, and 58% report an increase in dog behavioural problems.

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