PET RETAILERS AND SERVICE providers are currently focused on sales, consumer trends and the broader economy. Make sure advocacy is also part of your plan for 2026. As a business owner, you are your own best advocate. And as a small business, you may be your only advocate.
Follow Preuss Pets
If you’ve never been involved in advocacy, it can seem intimidating. It shouldn’t. After all, you’re in the pet business. Everyone loves pets.
One great example of advocacy is Preuss Pets, a family-owned pet store in Lansing, MI. Kirbay Preuss, who manages the business, invited her state representative to tour the store, see their animals and learn more about their operation. She even earned a subsequent shoutout from the Michigan governor.
Advocacy is simply building relationships with people who may be asked to make a decision that can affect your business. It could be an employment policy, such as minimum wage or business taxes, or something as sweeping as a ban on the retail sale of pets entirely, which animal-rights groups are pushing in localities across the U.S.
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Start Small
Like insurance, you can’t wait until a fire has started to get into advocacy. Advocacy is an investment of your time. But it can pay significant dividends. If local or state leaders know you and your business, they’ll feel comfortable defending you against attacks and listening to your concerns about proposed policies. If they don’t know you, it’s a much harder lift.
Advocacy can start small. If you’re in an incorporated locality, do you know the town manager? Members of the city council? The mayor? Your local chamber of commerce? Then think bigger: Expand to your county as well as your elected state legislators who represent you and your business.
Tools For You
Want help getting started? The Pet Advocacy Network has tools to assist you. Our newly launched (and free!) Network of Advocates offers guidance for pet business leaders like you.
It has legislative briefs, toolkits and other advocacy materials. There are webinars and training sessions, as well as opportunities to consult with our government relations staff and hear from other business leaders on their experiences.
Network of Advocates is also a portal for staying informed about what’s happening in your state through action alerts, newsletters and other timely communications. Plus, it’s a way to get more involved in the community.
Join at petadvocacy.org/network. We want to help you tell your business story and grow our advocacy strength as a community.
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