Uncovering the Impact of Corporate Takeovers on Veterinary Practices: A Closer Look at Rising Fees and Animal Welfare

In recent years, a concerning trend has emerged within the veterinary industry - the corporate takeover of veterinary practices. The gradual shift towards prioritizing wealth over health has catalysed a significant rise in vet fees not only in the UK but also around the world. Who are these corporate entities that are rapidly acquiring independent vet practices, and what implications does this hold for animal welfare?

The landscape of veterinary care is evolving, with small independent practices being gradually replaced by corporate giants seeking to monopolize the industry. The cosy, trustworthy, familiar, usually family-run vet clinics that once stood as pillars in communities are now being swallowed up by faceless entities driven by profit margins. While from a business perspective this consolidation may seem lucrative, the repercussions for animal health and welfare are dire. This is not a tech giant charging hundreds for a new particular brand of phone in which customers can opt out of buying and just purchase a cheaper alternative. This has become a monopoly on lives. The haves survive. The have nots lose their lives.

Corporate Giants Behind the Curtain

The consolidators, often backed by substantial financial resources, are strategically acquiring independent vet practices to expand their reach and maximize profits. These corporations operate with an efficiency-driven mindset, aiming to streamline operations and prioritize revenue generation. However, this drive for financial gain often comes at the cost of compromising the quality of care provided to our beloved animal companions.

In the veterinary industry, corporates refer to large companies or consolidators that acquire independent veterinary practices for strategic purposes. The six large corporate groups in the UK are CVS, IVC, Linnaeus, Medivet, Pets at Home and VetPartners.

What Does a Corporate Take Over Mean?

As we spend more on our cats, dogs and other precious beloved family members, the veterinary industry has become attractive targets for big corporations, and pet owners are seeing higher bills and declining care as a result. Veterinarians and their employees tend to have comparatively low salaries compared to human doctors and nurses. In addition, pet ownership has boomed in recent years, with pet owners willing to spend whatever it takes to keep their beloved companions healthy. To put into context how much we spend on our pets each year in the UK, the Office for National Statistics revealed there has been a 270% increase from 2005 to 2021. The corporates see these rising figures, and they want in. With profit solely on the minds of these big organisations, animal welfare, as well as the welfare of the people who went into the industry wanting to help animals, has dwindled significantly over the last few years. In fact, it has now been going on so long that we have an entire generation who no longer know the traditional, animal centric, veterinary practice that the older generations remember so fondly. In many areas across the UK now, corporate owned veterinary practices dominate, yet people tend not to notice because the practices keep their original name and even veterinary staff. People are no longer aware their vets are no longer free to advise on a course of treatment, closer external service (such as pet crematorium or laboratory), or the most cost-effective avenue for the patient. They have no idea their vets are working to maximise profit at the expense of their sick, injured or, tragically, dying animal.

What Do The Corporates Control?

It is not just the veterinary practices themselves they now pull the strings of, the corporates have now bought into out of hours services', often creating an expensive monopoly in most areas, pet crematoriums, laboratories, pet insurance...even the pet food itself!

Let's start with the out of hours service, something we see our supporters often needing due to the untimely nature of road accidents and the time periods these accidents statistically fall into. Even without treatment, an out of hours consultation can cost from £200 upwards before your animal has been taken out of the carrier! Vets Now is the largest out of hours service who operate as part of the IVC (Independent Vet Care) Group, which is operated and controlled by a board led by CEO Mark Ross. While we pay excruciating amounts of money for out of hours services, usually in a bid to save the lives of animals in emergency situations, IVC reported gross profits of £953 million in the 2022 financial year, while its revenues jumped from £1.31 billion in 2020 to £2.84 billion last year. Sadly, some of the Vets Now services are so busy currently, animals are being referred miles away to other Vets Now theatres, regardless of there potentially being independent vets closer that are also operating 24 hours. As we heard at a recent Welsh Government presentation was the case for one sick little dog. A 7 month old bulldog who was having seizures, prompting his family to phone their vets at 2am. They were advised by recorded message that only Vets Now were open, but they would not take the dog and referred him to another of their out of hours practices 2 hours away. Tragically, this young dog died in the car enroute.

The corporate's buying power is now so great that the independent veterinary services have been left on their knees, often being pressured to sell up to the corporates as they just cannot compete. With such great buying power, the external companies are also being held to ransom. The more you can purchase, the more cheaply things become in large quantities. The things the corporates are purchasing in bulk, ultimately creating discounts for themselves, is things such as pharmaceutical products, waste disposal, cremation services, equipment, even services we wouldn't necessarily think of such as direct debit suppliers. Having such big buying power, and many external companies also working on the basis of wealth before health, the corporates are now the preferred buyers on their lists. All the costs they save are not passed down to the customer, us the pet owner, and they also cause independents to have no other option but to increase their costs too. In essence, they have created a monopoly which we, the pet owner, have no option but to use/pay and animals are suffering as a result, even more so now in the middle of this cost-of-living crisis.

Many of you may remember the recent vaccine shortage which made the news. Guess who the shortage hit the most? You guessed it, the independents. The pharmaceutical industry punished independent practices by ensuring any available vaccines went to the corporate owned practices, leaving independent practices with no vaccines for months on end. Why upset your biggest paying client, right?

The pet food industry has also not escaped the corporates grasp, with that rapidly increasing market being a key target of growth for them. Heavily backed by the corporates are big names most people will be familiar with, like Nestle and Mars. Pet health is now the candy company Mars' biggest financial part of their portfolio, and they have began their own training academies also. Their take over has resulted in a reduction in choice for consumers. Remember this when a corporate vet pushes a special prescription diet onto your pet. Perhaps it is what is genuinely best for your pet....or perhaps it has been offered as a way to further push one of their brands. The monopoly on our pet's food and diets has already begun.

Why don't vets speak up if it is so bad?

What we must stress is, we nor this campaign are interested in 'vet bashing', not at all. Linda's campaign concerns itself with animal welfare, but it also includes the conditions vets work in. Vets, like any other employee, tend to find themselves at the mercy of their employers. In this case, sometimes their employers (practice owners) find themselves too at the mercy of the big corporates. Linda's petition as much aims to stand up for vets rights as it does the rights of animals and their owners. We are all in this together against a much larger, powerful machine. Suicide rates within the veterinary profession is 4 times higher than that of the general public. Vets, as much as animals, need the support Linda is asking for from the Government.

A veterinary surgeon, who was a clinical director for a corporate practice but has since gone independent, included a submission in the recent Welsh Government presentation. They were unable to go into too much detail due to having been made to sign a Non-Disclosure agreement. They were unable to state information about any internal policies that had not already been made public. However, they gave a clear indication, as best they could, of the power of the corporates and how the Government must step in to save the profession. If indeed it isn't already too late to do so.

The corporates now sponsor new graduates, veterinary schools, lectures, events, and offer deals to new students that no independent practice could hope to match, and they also now have 'graduate academies' of their own. What has been raised in the Welsh Parliament is the fact that we are now seeing an entire generation of veterinary nurses and clients that know no different, that have no idea of the how the local, independent, family and patient centred veterinary practice operated, a time, it's claimed, when animal welfare was at the centre of all they did, not profit.

The representative organisations of the industry are the British Veterinary Association (BVA) and the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS). The British Veterinary Nurse Association receive the majority of their membership fees from the corporates, and the BVA itself enjoy financial perks and sponsorship from the Mars group and the corporates themselves, leaving many to fear their influence.

How do I know If My Vet Is Independent?

What we want to STRONGLY state is that we ARE NOT vet bashing. The vast majority of vets do an absolutely amazing job of caring for and saving our beloved family members day in, day out. Induvial vets usually have no control on who the practice owner sells the practice to, and often the owners themselves are either priced out and have no choice, offered sums they can not refuse to sell up, or transfer ownership on false promises that nothing will change. Vets who currently work for a corporate owned practice will want to do the best for your animal, they might just be advised to upsell products, or perhaps include extras your animal does not particularly need but that will not further harm your pet. Such as things like a catheter adding for a spay operation. It is an extra unnecessary cost that will not harm or benefit your pet. (*Note we have been informed of the above by people in the field who will remain anonymous and we stress this might not happen at all corporate owned vets). We advise speaking to your veterinarian about the procedure your animal is undergoing, and don't be afraid to ask questions and understand everything.

You can find details of independent vets here and search for your nearest independent practice on this link here.

Detrimental Effects on Animal Health

As corporate entities acquire more and more vet practices, a troubling pattern emerges - a monopoly that restricts choice and hinders personalized care. Pet owners are increasingly finding themselves limited to a handful of corporate-run clinics, where the focus shifts from individualized treatment to standardized protocols aimed at increasing throughput.

This shift towards standardized practices can have detrimental effects on animal health. Conditions that require careful and tailored attention may be overlooked in favour of cost-effective, one-size-fits-all solutions. Furthermore, the pressure to meet profit targets can incentivize practices to upsell unnecessary services or procedures, potentially putting the well-being of animals at risk.

The Competitions and Markets Authority are currently investigating this issue. Find out more here.

The Decline in Animal Welfare

The most distressing aspect of this corporate takeover is the decline in animal welfare standards. With profit margins taking centre stage, the compassionate ethos that drove many independent veterinarians is being overshadowed by financial considerations. The once warm and personalized care that pets received from their local vet is being replaced by impersonal, profit-oriented interactions. We do not intend that to sound like vet bashing either. Many vets are leaving the industry because it is ''not what we thought it would be''. Like in many of our employment roles, we are restricted on what we can say and do toward and against our employer.

As the corporate footprint expands, the focus shifts away from the well-being of animals towards bottom-line figures. This shift not only undermines the fundamental values of veterinary care but also jeopardizes the health and happiness of our furry companions.

CatsMatter Speak Out

It all began when Lind tragically lost Rosa (pictured) in 2018. She strongly believes that everything surrounding Rosa's case was mishandles, so she began doing some digging into everything. Her findings led her to refuse to take legal action against the vets, as she found that it was more a case of the 'system' being to blame, not the individual vets. She discovered that it is not the veterinary nurses, or even the practices themselves, that are to blame, but the giants that are swallowing them all whole - the corporates! She found that the vets themselves are suffering, and there is little they can do about it. After discovering that there is no independent veterinary practice in her region at all, she decided to open her own independent not for profit practice called Rosa's Mobile Veterinary Service.  As Linda says, her campaign will not help her Rosa now, but she feels compelled to speak out for others animals everywhere.

Linda decided to make a stand and, fast forward to now, the very first presentation of it's kinds was held at the Welsh Parliament last year asking that an inquiry be held into the corporate take over of veterinary practices. In support of Linda, animals and struggling owners everywhere, we attended the session. Linda also created another meeting this year, which we also were proud to attend and support. We attended Aberystwyth University to discuss the issue further with fellow shareholders where we had a productive meeting as people across the veterinary, charity and campaign sectors discussed how a corporate take over affects them, their clients, their supporters, their volunteers, and the animals they own, adopt, rescue and treat.

In Conclusion

The corporate takeover of vet practices represents a significant paradigm shift in the veterinary industry, where financial interests often supersede health considerations. While the rise in vet fees can be attributed in part to increasing operational costs, the underlying issue lies in the prioritization of profit over compassionate care.

As pet owners, it is crucial to be aware of these changing dynamics in the veterinary landscape and advocate for the preservation of quality, personalized care for our animal companions. Only by shedding light on the implications of corporate takeovers can we strive towards a future where the well-being of our beloved pets is truly valued above all else.

Remember, the health of our furry friends should always take precedence over profit margins and that is why we will not be quiet on this and will continue to support external campaigns and petitioners, and will always use our platform wherever we can.