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CNA
28-06-2025
- Health
- CNA
Jakarta to roll out mobile vet services to plug pet healthcare gaps
Jakarta plans to have at least six mobile veterinary vehicles next year in the hopes of providing a solution for pet owners who are priced out of private healthcare or live too far from the city's only government-run clinic.
CNA
28-06-2025
- Health
- CNA
Vets on wheels: Can Jakarta's new service address animal care challenges faced by city, pet owners?
JAKARTA: When Lusiana discovered that a free rabies vaccination event was being held at a cultural centre about a kilometre from her home, the East Jakarta resident was excited. Her cat, Bono, had been vomiting and acting lethargic for days and the 74-year-old widow was hoping that the veterinarians present at the event might provide some answers. The private animal clinics near her home are too expensive while Jakarta's only government-run clinic, located some 28km away on the other side of the city, is too far for the ageing retiree. 'It would have taken me one-and-a-half hours one way to get to the (government-run) clinic by bus. In fact, it's so far away I'm not even sure which bus I should take to get there,' Lusiana, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, told CNA. Located near the city's southern limit, the Jakarta Animal Health Centre is the only place in the sprawling metropolis of 11 million inhabitants which provides subsidised healthcare for animals and thus holds special importance for pet owners like Lusiana. Prices at privately-run clinics can be two to four times more expensive than at the health centre. For example, the health centre charges 70,000 rupiah (US$4) for every health consultation session while private ones typically charge between 150,000 and 250,000 rupiah per session. Meanwhile, male neutering costs between 200,000 and 350,000 rupiah at the health centre, depending on the size of the animal, while prices at private clinics vary between 400,000 and 1 million rupiah. To compensate for the centre's remoteness, the city has been staging outreach programmes where veterinarians and city officials visit one Jakarta community after the other, including the rabies event which Lusiana attended on Jun 10. But these programmes are held only once or twice every month. Since veterinarians can only carry a limited amount of equipment, the events are often limited to simple procedures such as vaccinations and sterilisations, as Lusiana found out the hard way. 'The vets suspected that my cat might have parasites but they can't be sure without performing a blood test. And to do that I need to take my cat to the (government-run) clinic,' she said. As residents in the Indonesian capital struggle with the lack of places where owners can get affordable healthcare for their pets, authorities have come up with a potential solution. Starting next year, Jakarta will have six mobile veterinary services vehicles. These travelling animal clinics, modelled after an existing initiative in neighbouring West Java, aim to be a game-changer for veterinarians, animal owners and their pets. Hasudungan Sidabalok, chief of the Jakarta Food Security, Maritime and Agriculture Agency, which oversees all animal affairs in the Indonesian capital, acknowledged that the city-run animal clinic is too far for many residents. 'We are planning to build an animal clinic in each of Jakarta's (five) municipalities. But the process of building one is long as there need to be studies, for example, of how accessible a location is to people in that municipality and so on,' Hasudungan told CNA. 'So the most feasible and quickest solution is to set up mobile veterinary service units.' Hasudungan said Jakarta plans to acquire between six and 12 vans and convert them into animal clinics on wheels. These mobile veterinary vehicles are expected to roam the streets of Jakarta next year. 'There will definitely be six (vehicles), but if there is enough budget, we can increase the number to 12 because people's demand for such services is quite high,' the agency chief said. Each vehicle, he continued, will cost around 2 billion rupiah and come equipped with a mini operating table, an x-ray machine and a blood sample analyser. The city is planning to recruit at least 12 veterinarians and 12 paramedics for the programme. It is not yet clear how much its operational costs will be. ANOTHER GAME CHANGER? The planned service is modelled after a similar programme in Jakarta's neighbouring province of West Java. Since 2022, West Java has been operating two mobile veterinary vehicles, providing healthcare to every corner of the 35,000sq km province. Animal rights advocate turned politician Francine Widjojo said she was envious at how the West Java programme was able to provide diverse medical services to animals in far corners of the province. When Francine was sworn in as a member of the Jakarta city council last August, she immediately got to work to bring the service to the Indonesian capital. 'Jakarta has free sterilisation and free rabies vaccination programmes but each municipality can only perform them once or twice a month because it can be hard to find suitable locations for these activities,' Francine said. 'If Jakarta has its own mobile veterinarian vehicles, we can stage such events more frequently and offer more medical services.' Irawati Artharini, a Jakarta government official who has overseen numerous sterilisation and vaccination drives echoed the sentiment. 'Sometimes we have to postpone sterilising an animal because the animal is sick or unwell, especially feral cats which are brought in by animal welfare groups or caught by locals. When that happens, the vets couldn't do much because we didn't have the right equipment,' she said. In West Java, the veterinary vehicles have been a game changer. Yoni Sugiri, head of the West Java Animal Hospital, said although the province has government-run animal clinics in almost every major town and city, not all have the equipment or medical professionals skilled enough to perform complicated tests or medical procedures. As a result, hospital workers are often invited to farms, slaughterhouses and markets in remote areas of West Java, dozens of kilometres away from the hilly outskirts of the provincial capital, Bandung, where the hospital is located. 'Even if we conduct outreach sessions, lab tests and seriously ill patients still need to be taken to our hospital,' Yoni told CNA. The hospital came up with the idea of a mobile veterinary service in 2019 but it would take another three years to convince the West Java government to earmark the money needed for the programme. 'Since we have this mobile veterinary service, we are able to perform medical procedures anywhere, like blood tests, ultrasound (imaging) and stool sample tests. We can do almost anything except for major surgeries which require a sterile and specialised space,' said Yoni. Before having its own veterinary vehicles, health workers could only travel once or twice a month to other parts of West Java. Today – with two units at its disposal – the hospital can dispatch two teams of veterinarians to different corners of the province every other day. 'I am very proud that other provinces are looking to replicate the programme, that this innovation which started in West Java is now being considered by other regions,' said Yoni. CRUCIAL TOOL FOR DISEASE PREVENTION Jakarta agency chief Hasudungan said details of how the vehicles will operate are still being ironed out. One option is to have these vans stay at specific locations so people know where to look for them. But there are also suggestions that the vehicles should also travel from one place to the next to support the city's vaccination and sterilisation drives. 'Perhaps it will be a combination of these options,' Hasudungan said. But running a mobile veterinary service is not without its challenges and downsides, as medical workers in West Java have discovered. Because they need to travel from one place to the next, veterinarians and paramedics can sometimes spend more time on the road than providing medical services. The stress of navigating through traffic, the outdoor heat and the lack of comfortable places to rest can be physically taxing for medical workers. The limited space also makes it difficult to examine and perform medical procedures to animals bigger than a small-sized dog. This is why Jakarta is continuing efforts to build more animal clinics as well as upgrade the existing health centre into an animal hospital, Hasudungan the agency chief said. The city is still searching for land in North, West, Central and East Jakarta for the brick-and-mortar clinics. Meanwhile new facilities, he said, are being built to upgrade the existing animal health centre. 'To become a hospital, the clinic must have a 24-hour emergency ward and veterinarians with special skills. We are working towards making the necessary upgrades and recruiting specialists to work in this future animal hospital,' the agency chief said, refusing to provide a timeline for these projects. Meanwhile, city councillor Francine doubts that the new clinics will be ready anytime soon. 'Which is why Jakarta needs this mobile veterinary service, so pet owners can have better access to affordable healthcare for their animals as these new facilities are being built,' the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) politician said. Francine said better access to veterinary services is crucial in preventing a host of health problems affecting both animals and humans. 'Jakarta is quite ahead in preventing (cases of) rabies because it routinely stages rabies vaccination drives. Efforts to prevent (rabies) have been pretty good but more can be done with the help of a mobile animal clinic,' she said, adding that the service could also help Jakarta's efforts to keep its cat population in check. According to a 2024 estimate by the city government, Jakarta is home to 750,000 stray and 110,000 domesticated cats. With cats capable of producing three to four litters of kittens a year, with an average of three to six kittens per litter, experts predict the figure could quadruple in the next five years, heightening the risk of disease transmission, human-animal conflicts and ecological imbalance. In May, Jakarta governor Pramono Anung announced that the city government is considering populating one of the hundreds of islands off the coast of Jakarta with cats in an effort to manage their population and boost tourism. 'Animal health is closely related to human health. Throughout history, there have been many outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics which started out as animal-to-animal transmittable diseases, including COVID-19,' Francine said. 'This is why it is very important to keep animals healthy.'
Associated Press
16-05-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Inspire Veterinary Partners Reports First Quarter 2025 Financial Results
VIRGINIA BEACH, VA / ACCESS Newswire / May 16, 2025 / Inspire Veterinary Partners, Inc. (Nasdaq:IVP) ('Inspire' or the 'Company'), an owner and provider of pet health care services throughout the U.S., today reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2025. First Quarter 2025 Financial Highlights Compared to Prior Year Period First Quarter 2025 Operational Highlights Executive Commentary 'During the first quarter of 2025 Inspire continued to be margin minded and reduce our losses despite the challenges with year over year revenues across our industry,' said Kimball Carr, Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer of Inspire. 'We also turned the corner on the crucial hiring of clinicians with doctor hires already outpacing all of last year. We believe our work in 2024, and the first quarter of this year sets IVP up for growth with our existing portfolio and expansion to new markets through a return to acquisitions.' First Quarter 2025 Financial Overview All comparisons are made versus the same period in 2023 unless otherwise stated. For the first quarter of 2025, total revenue was approximately $3.6 million, a decrease of 25%. Service revenue for first quarter of 2025 decreased $0.8 million or 23%, to $2.7 million. The decrease in service revenue is mainly attributed to the sale of the company's former Kauai location and its exclusion from 2025 results. On a comparable basis, service revenue declined year-over-year, primarily due to reduced DVM capacity and operational disruptions in January. Product revenue for first quarter 2025 decreased $0.4 million, or 30%, to $0.9 million. The overall decrease was a result of customers purchasing less products per visit and the exclusion of the Kauai location from 2025 results. Total operating expenses decreased $2.1 million or 27%. The decrease was primarily due to the sale of the Kauai location and its exclusion from 2025 results and the decreases in IR agency contracts and marketing agreements the Company entered during the first quarter of 2024 following the February 2024 public acquisition. Net loss for the first quarter of 2025 decreased $1.0 million, or 29%, to $2.4 million. The decline in net loss is primarily attributable to the exclusion of the operating expenses associated with a clinic sale, decreases in operating expenses associated with the cost associated with the February 2024 public raise during the period, and the IR agency consulting agreement Balance Sheet As of March 31, 2025, the Company had cash and cash equivalents of approximately $1.7 million. About Inspire Veterinary Partners, Inc. Inspire Veterinary Partners is an owner and provider of pet health care services throughout the US. As the Company expands, it expects to acquire additional veterinary hospitals, including general practice, mixed animal facilities, and critical and emergency care. For more information, please visit: Connect with Inspire Veterinary Partners, Inc. Facebook LinkedIn Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding the Company's current expectations. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include, but are not limited to, statements by the Company relating to the completion of the offering, the satisfaction of customary closing conditions related to the offering, the intended use of proceeds from the offering, receipt of Stockholder Approval as well as risks and uncertainties related to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions related to anticipated acquisitions, or factors that result in changes to the Company's anticipated results of operations related to acquisitions. These and other risks and uncertainties are described more fully in the section captioned 'Risk Factors' in the Company's public filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are made as of this date, and the Company undertakes no duty to update such information except as required under applicable law. Investor Contact CoreIR Matt Blazei 516-386-0430 [email protected] General Inquires Morgan Wood [email protected] Inspire Veterinary Partners, Inc. and Subsidiaries Consolidated Balance Sheets Inspire Veterinary Partners, Inc. and Subsidiaries Consolidated Statements of Operation Inspire Veterinary Partners, Inc. and Subsidiaries Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows SOURCE: INSPIRE VETERINARY PARTNERS, INC. press release
Associated Press
07-05-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
PetMed Express, Inc. and Dutch Announce Partnership to Provide Accessible Telehealth Services for Pets
DELRAY BEACH, Fla. and OAKLAND, Calif., May 07, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PetMed Express, Inc., parent company of PetMeds and PetCareRx (Nasdaq: PETS), today announced a new strategic partnership with virtual veterinary care provider Dutch . The collaboration marks PetMeds' latest move to expand its provider ecosystem with affordable, accessible pet healthcare options. The new partnership will enable pet parents to leverage Dutch's convenient technology and veterinary team to secure prescriptions for PetMeds' broad selection of medications in a timely manner. 'This partnership expands the accessibility of pet telemedicine, which can help fill gaps in care, as the nationwide vet shortage has left more than 129 million Americans without easy access to pet care,' said Joe Spector, Founder and CEO of Dutch. 'Through this collaboration, we are looking forward to reaching a broader audience of pet parents in need of care and medications.' 'At PetMeds, we believe the veterinarian is—and will always be—at the center of a pet's healthcare journey,' said Sandra Campos, President and CEO of PetMeds. 'By integrating Dutch's virtual care platform into our growing pet health ecosystem, we're expanding access to timely, professional care, particularly when in-person visits aren't possible due to geography, timing or cost. This partnership is designed to support the 200 veterinarians who are employed by Dutch and aid continuity of care while helping ensure pet parents receive expert guidance, whenever and wherever it's needed.' Under the partnership, pet parents will be able to sign up for a monthly Dutch membership and be connected virtually with veterinarians for 24/7 appointments in 34 states. Since launched, Dutch has completed almost 700,000 visits and offers treatment options for over 150 conditions, including flea and tick medication and treatments for allergies and joint pain. Consumer awareness and adoption of veterinary telehealth options are accelerating as pet parents look for more affordable, accessible ways to keep their beloved pets healthy and happy. Dutch's recently released 2025 State of Veterinary Care Report found that 129 million Americans, or roughly 38% of the population, live in vet-care 'deserts'—underscoring the significant need for more accessible pet care options. About PetMed Express, Inc. Founded in 1996, PetMeds is a leader in the consumer pet healthcare sector. As a national online retailer with expert pharmacists and licenses across fifty states, and deliver top branded pharmaceuticals, generics, compounded prescription medications and OTC supplements and vitamins that help pets live longer, healthier lives. The Company strives to offer unparalleled value and convenience that enhance wellness and longevity for dogs, cats, and horses. PetMeds and PetCareRx provide essential pet health offerings through their websites, and . About Dutch Launched in July 2021, Dutch is the first and only veterinary telehealth company connecting licensed, independent veterinarians directly with pets and their parents nationwide. At its inception, Dutch primarily addressed common chronic ailments, such as anxiety and allergies, but has grown to treat over 150 conditions and serve over 40,000 customers. In 2022, Dutch introduced Rx services, which allow the company's licensed veterinarians to prescribe and ship OTC and prescription medications to patients in 34 states. Dutch memberships, excluding insurance, begin at just $15/month, and include unlimited access to virtual veterinary care through video and chat models. In a country experiencing a critical vet shortage of just one veterinarian for every 6,000 pet households, Dutch is creating a more accessible means of dependable, quality vet care that can address the modern pet parents' needs in a timely manner and at a fraction of the cost. Media Contacts For PetMeds: Danielle Poggi [email protected] Reed Anderson [email protected] For Dutch: Melissa Stavenhagen [email protected]
Forbes
07-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
PetMeds And Dutch Team Up For Veterinary Care And Prescriptions
PetMeds and Dutch are bringing telemedicine to pets. Courtesy of Dutch PetMed Express Inc., the parent company of PetMeds and PetCareRx has entered a strategic partnership with virtual veterinary care provider Dutch to expand its provider ecosystem with affordable, accessible pet healthcare options. The new partnership will enable pet owners to leverage Dutch's technology and veterinary team to secure prescriptions for PetMeds' medications. Pet owners, through the partnership, can sign up for a monthly Dutch membership,which will allow them to connect virtually for appointments, which are available 24/7, with veterinarians in 34 states. Since its launch four years ago, Dutch has completed almost 700,000 visits and offers treatment options for more than 150 conditions, including providing flea and tick medication and treatments for allergies and joint pain. 'Because they're technologically advanced, because they're able to cover the majority of the country and because they have over 200 veterinarians of their own made us feel very comfortable with them,' Sandra Campos, CEO of PedMeds, said of Dutch. 'Technology has evolved and in this case Dutch has proven that they continue to improve the technologies and are able to implement them within our own web site, which will make it much more seamless for the customer where they don't have to go and log onto a whole new platform,' Campos added. Today, customers and pet owners can go to Dutch and get same-day care and talk to a veterinarian for less than $10 a month, less than the cost of a carton of eggs. The veterinarian is able to write a prescription, create a treatment plan and save consumers pain, time and money by getting them care right away. 'Dutch is a membership model,' said Joe Spector, founder and CEO. 'Think of it as Costco where you pay $120 for an annual membership and you get up to five pets covered, so up to five pets can be seen by the veterinarian at any time. We make money on the membership and the product partnership. In this case we would fulfill and make a margin on any products being purchased.' Consumer awareness and adoption of veterinary telehealth options have been accelerating as pet owners look for more affordable and accessible ways to keep their pets healthy and happy. Dutch's recently released '2025 State of Veterinary Care Report' found that 129 million Americans, or roughly 38% of the population, live in vet-care 'deserts'—underscoring the need for more accessible pet care options. Spector said the partnership could see tens of thousands of customers. There's almost 150 million pets in the U.S. and almost half get no care at all, according to Spector. 'We're talking about 75 million pets who could get help from a more affordable option,' he said. 'There's a lot of demand for pet telemedicine because it either can bring you peace of mind at the very least by speaking to a professional, not Dr. Google, and at the most, it saves you thousands of dollars of going to urgent care,' Spector said. And the veterinarians in the Dutch network are seasoned and experienced. The average vet has over 15 years on the job. 'This isn't someone who couldn't find a job or just got out of school,' Spector said. 'This is someone who has been seeing pets for years and has decided to practice telemedicine. Veterinarians have come to believe they can provide better care when they see a pet in the comfort of their own home. We see a lot of anxious dogs. They're not better served in person and neither are cats because they become a different animal.' Telehealth for people has continued to evolve and improve and grow as more consumers become accustomed to Zoom calls and telehealth. The same is true on the pet side where telehealth for peets is going to increase year-over-year and the popularity of pet insurance continues to grow, Campos said. She added that PetMeds and Dutch wanted to provide a one-stop shop of solutions for pet owners whether they need a prescription and don't have access to a veterinarian or can't get to a vet or they need something after hours or on weekends. 'We give them that option without having to leave our site,' she said. 'We know that pets are better off when you're providing them with preventative solutions and you're taking care of their health,' Campos said. 'Rather than all of a sudden being hit with a disease or being hit with a critical condition, and then you have much greater costs as well, it's going to be much better to sustain their care and their maintenance over time.'
