Picture this: your usually shy pet bolted out of their litter box and into the world outside your garage, not even bothering to look back nor think twice as they went their merry way to wherever pets’ version of Disneyland is.
Out of shock, you watched them go, and it was only when they turned the corner, and you could no longer see them, that you realized you had no idea how to get them back home.
Sounds familiar?
One of the co-founders of PetHub, Inc., Tom Arnold, went through the same experience almost a decade ago.
And as shared by co-founder and currently Chief Operating Officer, Lorien Clemens, it was Tom’s experience that sparked the establishment of the company back in 2010.
According to Lorien,
“It (the company) grew out of a need that he (Tom) saw as a pet parent himself, as a modern pet parent, of not having tools that he needed to really manage his pet’s life, and particularly, his pet’s data when it came to communicating with pet sitters, and different service providers, and then with lost pets.”
Realizing that there was no one place that he could go to find the information that pet parents like him needed whenever an emergency situation arises, Tom approached Lorien about the idea of creating a hub where all pets’ information can be placed. This then inspired the name “PetHub”.
But even though Lorien and the PetHub team started the business off with the lost pet problem, they came up with a lot of innovations, features, and functionalities along the way before they finally got their first digital ID tags out on the market by 2011.
“I’ll never forget it. It was like—I think it was December 23rd. And we got a phone call from somebody outside of Memphis, and they had found a dog—someone had a dog with her that didn’t have on a caller, but a dog named Bella with our tag, they had scanned it, called, and said, ‘All right, what am I supposed to do to get this at home?’ And then, we were facilitating that pet home. Well, since then, we’ve helped over 25,000 pets get home,”
Lorien shared, reminiscing.
According to Lorien, the key to what makes PetHub’s digital ID tags more powerful than the standard, old-fashioned ID tag is that PetHub’s version links to a free online profile that holds unlimited emergency contacts.
In effect, the company’s digital ID tag allows you to have a safety circle of people you can contact in case your pet goes missing. Conversely, if a stranger finds your pet when they go missing, they can also reach out to your family, your neighbors, your veterinarians, or even your local pet sitters, as long as you listed their contact information on your pet’s online profile.
On the other hand, in case your pet ends up in a shelter, the shelter will immediately know they’re good to go since you can also include all sorts of records—your pets’ vaccination records, dietary information, and medical details—on their online PetHub account.
Lorien added,
“So with this very powerful profile that links to this digital ID tag, it’s been wildly successful for us. Approximately 96% of pets that are recovered with PetHub tags get home in 24 hours or less, which, when you consider the national return-to-home rates, takes anywhere between three to 10 days to get a pet home. And you read stories all the time about pets found after seven years with their microchips… Who wants to wait seven years? I wait seven minutes, I’m bereft. So, I’m very proud about that.”
As for how pet parents can get a hold of PetHub’s digital ID tags, Lorien said that you can buy them directly from the company when you go to their website. However, the PetHub team primarily uses pet licenses or rabies tags as a method of communicating and interacting with pet parents.
As a hub that aims to be a useful tool for pet guardians to safely manage and share information about their pets, PetHub is now working on building relationships with trusted pet partners, such as your pet sitter, veterinarian, pet groomer, or even an insurance company.
The goal is to make all the information about your pet stay succinct and up-to-date regardless of any situation.
Apart from that, Lorien and the rest of the PetHub staff also aim to help pet parents find the latest animal innovations that can help the latter raise their pets the way that they really want to, using the best practices.
Closing the podcast, she shared,
“I have to say, it’s literally the most fulfilling thing I’ve ever done… We take it very seriously when we say we’re going to curate our partners. We’re making sure that we’re really putting out there something that we, as pet parents, would want to use as well. So, we help build those connections for pet parents…to be able to have a place where all your pet’s identification is right there… So, that’s what we’re building now, and we’re really excited about it.”
Interested to know more about PetHub?
Check out their website at https://www.pethub.com/.
