The big companies, known as consolidators, have bought hundreds of clinics from 2012 onwards, according to records and reports, across the country, because pets and vets are big money.
Sixty per cent of Canadians have a pet, according to a recent report from Mintel, a consumer research firm, and the country’s vet practices pull in around $9.3 billion a year according to a 2023 report prepared for the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association.
A 2023 report from the Ontario Veterinary Medical Association (OMVA) said corporate interests contol 20 per cent of veterinary hospitals in Canada, and estimates those chains employ about 40 per cent of the nation’s vets.
I swear, how did we get to this point, where we have massive (effectively) monopolies that are able to continue to merge and buy up smaller companies and grow?
I know we have anti-trust laws, but if companies are able to keep doing this, we need a review of those laws.
Because that’s how capitalism works without strong enough regulations. You need to grow every year, and at a certain point you can’t really do that without expanding into a new market or buying a competitor.
In exaggerated capitalism, one company grows until it owns everything. Its goal is to extract as much as possible from the population.
Never one company.
Usually three companies will end up owning an imdustry. It’s far easier to manage a collusive oligopoly than a pure monopoly; and the governments are more likely to leave you alone.
Because that’s how capitalism works. The goal is to make as much money as possible as fast as possible, which is harder to do when you have competition.
The myth of the “free market” is a way to distract people from the reality of a capital based system. The haves all want to be have-mores, and they will take from the needs to accomplish it.
Free market might work if politicians couldnoy accept any “donations” to adjust laws in favour of giant corps.
I would love to see that. Forcing politicians to live off minimum wage or close to it would fix a lot, I bet. They would see how tough it can be for everyday people.
It’s getting really cyberpunk all in here lol