News Article

The internet is primarily an information source - this is the realisation that is sweeping across on-line retail sectors and it seems especially true for pet retail and pet healthcare following the latest announcement of a new on-line veterinary drug reference library.

In the U.S.

Plans were announced last week for the development of a drug reference library to be launched in the autumn as part of a joint venture between the Swiss based pharmaceuticals group Novartis and a newly launched US pet health resource web-site Petplace.com.

Petplace.com which was founded by veterinarian Jon Rappaport has on its board of directors, Julie Wainwright, Chairman and CEO of the San Francisco Based retailer Pets.com.

The Pets.com web-site relies on PetPlace.com to provide it with clinical and pet care information resources. PetPlace.com is also the sole provider of pet health related information to the US giant AOL..

In a statement put out by Novartis last Friday the company claims that the 'PetPlace.com Drug Reference Library':

"..will benefit veterinarians and pet owners with access to the internet by providing them with accurate online pet medical information."

It goes on to say that the library:

"..is intended to be subscription free and will give veterinarians access to comprehensive information on a wide range of medical conditions and treatments. "

In a statement about the move Hans-Beat Gürtler, CEO of Novartis Animal Health said:

"Novartis is dedicated to raising the bar on pet health. So it is natural for us to support PetPlace.com, the most comprehensive and accurate online resource for pet health and well-being."

In the U.K.

In comparison, in March of this year, the UK based company Premium Petcare which operates the on-line retail site Petspyjamas.com, announced its acquisition of the information provider Vetstream plc.

Vetstream, which was set up to provide vets with information about the clinical care of dogs, cats, horses and rabbits, claimed at the time that their latest peer-reviewed clinical content would prove invaluable in ensuring that pet owners could now also get access to the most up-to-date and reliable information on breeds, diseases and treatments.

Here are some of the comments of the partners, made at the time:

Mark Johnston, Business Development Director of Vetstream said:

"The combined company will be the first end-to-end internet animal healthcare company, connecting all the key players in a European market that is worth over £10 billion. As the market becomes increasingly global, this move will not only allow us to extend the reach of our information services but it will also provide us with the ability to offer cutting edge sales and marketing channels to animal health companies and veterinary practices"

Charles Fallon, managing director and co-founder of Premium Petcare said:

"In the USA, almost half of all web browsing is related to human healthcare information and a similar trend is developing with pet owners…"

"The acquisition of Vetstream has consolidated our business-to-business offering and brought together owners, vets and the animal health companies."

Jos Belgrave, managing director of Vetstream said:

"While Vetstream's initial focus was on information services to veterinary professionals, we have more recently been seeking channels to help the vet communicate reliable information to the pet owner. The combined expertise of Vetstream and Premium Petcare will deliver this exciting opportunity across Europe."

These are substantial investments and partnerships which demonstrate that it is no longer possible to set up shop and tack on a few bits of outdated advice for pet owners. The old adage that your site must provide exciting and useful content, whether it is commercial or not, is more true now than ever before - and this doesn't come cheap!