🚨 NEWS ALERT

Beagle breeder gets slammed with a $35M fine.
This is the largest fine ever in Animal Welfare Act case history.

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THIS WEEK'S TOPICS:

• ♻️ $9K/mo profit selling compostable poop bags

• 🩶 A silver retriever is born

• 🍲 Chrissy Tiegen & John Legend launch a pet food brand

♻️ $9K/MO PROFIT SELLING COMPOSTABLE POOP BAGS

The pet waste management sector is ripe for innovation, especially with the increasing demand for alternatives to traditional plastic bags.

With a growing awareness of plastic pollution, more pet owners are seeking eco-friendly solutions for pet waste disposal.

A premium opportunity has recently come to market in this space: a lean and profitable business generating $9,000 per month (net) from selling compostable dog poop bags.

Employees: 0

(we can’t disclose the name or URL of the business)

Sustainable Pet Waste Management: A Lucrative Opportunity

This business, priced at $366K, has seen solid success with its direct-to-consumer model, exclusively sold through its Shopify store.

It has effectively utilized paid social advertising to acquire a loyal customer base. We suppose once you find some bags you like there isn’t much reason to switch!

Recently, the company launched a subscription service, offering convenience and ensuring recurring revenue streams.

Expanding the Product Line

There is significant potential to expand the product range within the pet waste management sector and grow revenue. Here are some opportunities we’d explore based on what we’ve seen trending in this smelly little niche:

1. 🚽 Backyard Septics: In-ground systems designed for pet waste can provide an eco-friendly and long-term solution for disposing of dog poop right in the backyard without any need for removing waste from your property.

2. 🌎 Eco-Friendly Pee Pads: Sustainable alternatives to traditional pee pads can cater to pet owners looking for green solutions for house training and older pets.

3. 🧷 Diapers for Incontinent Dogs: Biodegradable diapers offer a solution for dogs with incontinence issues, addressing both pet care and environmental concerns.

Market Trends and Growth Potential

The pet industry continues to evolve, with sustainability at the forefront of consumer preferences.

According to a 2023 report by Grand View Research, the global biodegradable plastic market is expected to reach $7.7 billion by 2025, driven by increasing environmental regulations and consumer demand for sustainable products.

Specifically, the pet products segment is projected to grow as more owners opt for eco-friendly options.

Additionally, a 2023 survey by Packaged Facts indicates that 72% of pet owners are willing to pay a premium for sustainable pet products.

This trend underscores the growing market potential for businesses that can effectively address the environmental impact of pet waste.

🩶 A SILVER RETRIEVER IS BORN

We recently stumbled across a post from WeRateDogs about the world's first Silver Retriever:

Before you get too excited, this turned out to be an April Fool's joke (got us for a hot second), but it had us wondering how exactly a breed becomes a breed, and what’s the underlying business that drives that need for official recognition.

The AKC

The American Kennel Club (AKC) is the standard when it comes to American dog breeds. The not-for-profit company, started in 1884, recognizes 201 purebred breeds and is the governing body behind the popular Westminster Dog Show.

Some details they promote about themselves:

• The world’s largest and oldest not-for-profit all-breed registry

• More than 5,000 licensed and member clubs and affiliated organizations

• More than 3 million entries to 22,000+ sports and events each year

• We are the number one content site for dogs, as reported by SimilarWeb, with over 8.3 million visitors to AKC.org every month

• The AKC Rescue Network is the largest network of dog rescue groups in the country, with more than 450 groups participating

• Over 5 million micro-chipped or tattooed pets are enrolled in the AKC Reunite program, and over 470,000 pets have been returned home to date

• AKC Museum of the Dog is home to the largest collection of canine art in the country

It's important to point out that the AKC only registers breeds in the US, so for a breed to be recognized, they need to be imported here and established first. They also don't recognize designer or hybrid dogs.

Being a nonprofit, we can go check out their financial statements and see what it takes to operate such an organization:

The AKC makes a big chunk of it's revenue from registrations when new puppies are born. This allows dog owners to certify purebred dogs and gives the AKC money to operate.

To be clear, the AKC is not a charity, it's instead a non-profit.

The AKC also partners with the FCI, the largest international dog breed registry. The FCI has 365 registered breeds, so the AKC is not the end all when it comes to dog breeds.

Getting a Breed Registered

So we have the body that registers breeds in the US (the AKC), so how does a breed get on that list, and why do international bodies (the FCI) recognize a lot more breeds than the AKC (144 more to be exact)?

Well it turns out this is more about people than dogs.

The AKC relies on breed specific clubs to maintain the "standard" of a breed (it's description and other information). So for a breed to get recognized, usually there must be enough dogs and owners to form a club. Basically the AKC doesn't just acknowledge any breeds that exist, people must submit them to the AKC to become registered.

The requirements are:

• The breed is entered into the AKC's Foundation Stock Service, which allows them to maintain a studbook and participate in certain AKC events

• The breed must have a documented history that go back 40 years

• The breed can't be a cross between two already established AKC breeds (sorry Mastiff Corgis)

• The breed must be entered into the AKC's "Miscellaneous" class. This requires 150 dogs with three-generation pedigrees in its studbook, and a viable breed standard. They must also have one club that will represent the breed as its “parent club” in the United States

All of this is to say that getting registered ain't easy. Some breeds have been in the Miscellaneous category for a decade, while others moved through in a few years.

The most recent registered breed is the Lancashire Heeler, which took 7 years from entering the Miscellaneous class to being recognized as part of the Herding group.

And why get registered?

The clearest reason is being able to say your dog is purebred when selling or breeding.

Also, this allows the breed to participate in AKC sponsored events, be part of a community of other owners, and get some support from the AKC to breed specific health initiatives (they have allocated $30m to health programs).

So for you owners out there with a Thai Ridgeback (currently in the Foundation Stock Service), better round up some more owners and start keeping track of your family trees if you want to make it to the big time!

🍲 CHRISSY TIEGEN & JOHN LEGEND LAUNCH A PET FOOD BRAND

Some people just seem to have all the talent.

As if hosting tv shoes, winning grammies, and raising adorable kids wasn't enough, Chrissy Tiegen and John Legend are launching their own pet food brand.

Before kids, the pair's first parental experience was with a pooch (an English Bulldog named Puddy), and dogs have been a big part of their lives together.

They developed the brand, Kismet, with vet Dr. Kwane Stewart, a bit of a celeb in his own right.

Going through their site, it seems to be your run of the mill options:

• Chicken & Barley or Salmon & brown rice freeze dried food

• Beef sticks & squares

• Ingredients include real protein, no animal by-products, and no corn or wheat

• Cost is $45 for a 9lb bag of food, with a subscription option for $33 (but not sure the subscription cost)

We'll give them credit on the website, which looks pretty nice.

They've decided to go with the direct to consumer route for now, as we couldn't find any mention of their brand in other retailers. The upside there is that they get a bigger margin, the downside being that they need to acquire all the customers themselves.

They launched in the beginning of May, but it doesn't look like they've seen much traffic yet:

2k is pretty minimal, especially with a combined 18 million instagram followers between the two.

Our guess is while they've announced the brand and set a launch date, they haven't yet tapped into their followers to drive traffic.

DOGGYDEX™

Winner 🏆: S&P 500

Proudly introducing the DoggyDex™, an index comprised of 10 publicly traded companies whose primary focus is the dog/pet industry.

List of tickers used can be found at the very bottom of the newsletter.

The yellow line-plot in the chart represents these companies above (DoggyDex™) and their combined performance against both the S&P 500 and Bitcoin on a weekly basis.

Pawformance is measured by % gains & losses.

• 🏈 Kansas City Chiefs player, Derrick Nnadi covers fees for 500 dogs: Derrick Nnadi, or as Coach Reid calls him, The Dog Whisperer, has sponsored the adoption of more than 500 dogs to prevent them from being euthanised.

• 📋 Humane Society exposes 100 biggest puppy mills in the US: Check out their 2024 ‘Horrible Hundred’ list to see who you should be avoiding. 20+ breeders are linked to AKC!

• 🏇 Dog lives for horse racing: This pup is glued to the TV waiting for the horses to leave the gate, and the moment they do he springs into action.

A REALLY GOOD DOG

• $CHWY - Chewy: E-commerce platform for pet supplies

• $IDXX - Idexx Labs: Vet point of care instruments and vet software

• $FRPT - Fresh Pet: Pet food company

• $PETQ - PetIQ: Pet health products and medicines

• $PETS - PetMeds: Online pet pharmacy

• $ZTS - Zoetis: World's largest producer of meds and vaccines for pets and livestock

• $TRUP - Trupanion: Pet insurance company

• $WOOF - Petco Health & Wellness co.: Pet health & wellness company

• $BARK - BarkBox: Subscription service providing dog products, services, and experiences

• $PET - Wag! Group Co.: Tech platform that allows pet owners to connect with industry professionals for services such as, walking, training, etc.