Pet Industry News
The deals, launches, and strategic moves behind the brands and operators shaping the industry.
Pets will shape travel plans for 68% of owners, Subaru survey finds
A Subaru-commissioned Talker Research survey of 2,000 pet-owning drivers, released October 13th, 2026, says 68% expect their pet to affect travel plans this year and 73% would drive instead of fly to bring the pet. New in this release, 10% may host, 10% may shorten a trip and 8% may skip gatherings. In our view, the trip-length and planning numbers are the ones sitters and kennels can use.
A Top-Three Global Pet Care Player Just Bought Its Way Into Brazil
Unicharm announced on May 15 that it will acquire 100% of Brazilian premium pet food maker Nutrire, marking its full-scale entry into the world's third-largest pet care market. The deal is the first move under Unicharm's 2026-2030 mid-term plan and the operational start of a multi-year LatAm pet consolidation cycle that strategic buyers have been previewing for two years.
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.