Pet Industry News
The deals, launches, and strategic moves behind the brands and operators shaping the industry.
Escalade Buys ASL Solutions, Betting on Pet Hard Goods
Escalade, the public sporting goods company behind Goalrilla and STIGA, has acquired ASL Solutions, a founder-owned manufacturer of insulated dog and cat houses. The deal, terms undisclosed, hands Escalade a rotational molding capability it didn't have before and marks its first move into pet hard goods.
A Software Operator Just Bought the Top Pet GPS Brand
Italy's Bending Spoons closed its acquisition of Tractive on May 18, completing the largest exit in Austrian startup history and consolidating two of the three largest pet GPS brands under one owner. The buyer is a software operator with nine prior consumer-software acquisitions and no prior pet portfolio, a type of strategic the pet hardware category has not contended with before.
Dechra Just Closed the Diagnostic Side of Canine Cushing's
Dechra received FDA approval for CosACTHen (cosyntropin injection) on May 19, the first canine-labeled cosyntropin after 25 years of off-label workarounds. The approval closes the diagnostic side of Dechra's canine Cushing's franchise alongside Vetoryl (trilostane), converting the most-prescribed ACTH stim reagent from compounded supply to labeled product.
A second freeze-dry plant gives Golden Pet a structural cost advantage over its DTC peers
Golden Pet Brands acquired Scoular's Petsource freeze-dried pet food plant in Seward, Nebraska — a $130M-capex facility that served as a contract manufacturer for much of the indie freeze-dry market. The deal vertically integrates the Dr. Marty, Badlands Ranch, and Ultimate Pet Nutrition portfolio and tightens supply for competitors.
Wellness Pet hires a CPG marketer to fix a positioning problem
Wellness Pet Company named Allyson Borozan, most recently CGO at Bob's Red Mill, as Chief Marketing Officer. The hire signals that Clearlake Capital is repositioning the squeezed natural-pet brand for a rebuild cycle, not an exit.
Precision-fermented lamb protein clears FDA, opening a new ingredient class for pet food
Bond Pet Foods cleared FDA review for the first precision-fermented animal protein approved for U.S. pet food, jointly developed with Hill's. The clearance creates a regulatory template — and forces Mars, Purina, Blue Buffalo, and every other top-tier pet food company to choose between building, partnering, or waiting.
Three Dog Brands hits Walmart 12 months into the Topspin pet-treat buildout
Three Dog Brands placed Bark'n Crunch! Original Chicken Chips into Walmart on May 9, 2026, twelve months after the SKU's debut and 23 months into Topspin Consumer Partners' platform buildout. The mass-channel win is the first concrete velocity read on PE-backed pet-treat consolidation, and it lands into the aisle where Walmart is actively pushing Pure Balance Pro+.