Pet stylist Luiz Renato grooms Shih Tzu dog at a pet shop in Sao Paulo, Brazil on March 5, 2021. – The market of products and services for pets expanded in Brazil in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic crisis which, according to specialists, has no turning back.
Pet adoption has soared too — the upside of a rise in abandonments as the pandemic cost many people their income. “The kennels no longer had dogs… many people who lived alone wanted to buy a dog or a cat,” added pet store owner Luiz Renato, who says demand for his grooming services has skyrocketed as well.
He said toy and snack sales boomed, as did sales of cleaning products as more and more people seeking to socially distance from others started washing their dogs at home.The sector was aided, in large part, by being designated an “essential” service. Market observers do not expect the economic impact of the health crisis — which claimed more than 375,000 lives in Brazil to date — to change the country’s obsession with pets.