Compiled by TARRENCE TAN, C. ARUNO and R. ARAVINTHAN
BUSINESSES in China are trying to cash in on the rise in elderly pets as it is estimated that there will be 32.47 million dogs over eight years old and 21.18 million cats above 10 in the country by 2025, Sin Chew Daily reported.
Purchases on China’s largest online shopping platform Taobao appear to support these numbers as the sale of pet supplements surged 164% in November compared to the same month in 2023.
Similarly, other products such as pet wheelchairs also saw a significant rise.
Businesses are capitalising on the trend by offering elder care services such as nursing pet homes, especially in northern China.
One such home advertised that with just 1,800 yuan (RM1,100) a month, an elderly pet will get to stay in a 10m sq home at its facility. The pet, be it a dog or cat, will be cared for by employees who have had at least five years of experience looking after such animals.
The nursing home is equipped with CCTV and has a resident veterinarian where pets will get first-class medical treatment if they fall sick.
The pet funerary services industry has also doubled in the past few years, having recorded an all-time high of 1.8 billion yuan (RM1.1bil) in sales this year.
Based on a survey by Beijing Business Today, 60% of owners wanted a funeral ceremony for their deceased pets, out of which a quarter wanted to keep their ashes as a memento.
A pet funeral could cost up to around 8,000 yuan (RM4,876) and owners could pay an additional 7,000 yuan (RM4,266) to turn their pet’s ashes into a one-carat diamond.
The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a, it denotes a separate news item.
