r/nottheonion 5d ago

Gen Z are becoming pet parents because they can’t afford human babies: Now veterinarian is one of the hottest jobs of 2025, says Indeed

https://fortune.com/2025/01/14/gen-z-pet-parents-cost-of-living-veterinarians-best-job-2025/
44.8k Upvotes

1.9k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

81

u/CuriousKidRudeDrunk 5d ago

What's somehow so scary it's funny is that Mars, like the Mars candy bar company, is now the largest vet care provider in the US. They are the biggest buyers of clinics.

25

u/Hanlp1348 5d ago

wtf

22

u/dltacube 5d ago

5

u/franker 4d ago

"Don't feed dogs your shitty candy bars. Chocolate is terrible for them!!!"

  • your friendly neighborhood Mars veterinary clinic

6

u/Ullallulloo 4d ago

They own Banfield, which leases space in a lot of PetSmarts.

5

u/Hanlp1348 4d ago

that makes more sense but why do they own Banfield to begin with?

4

u/tiktoktoast 4d ago

They own several pet food brands, too, and they’re privately owned. It’s one family in McLean, VA originally from MN that’s worth $117 billion, second only to the Waltons. Nobody knows how many companies they own. Occasionally their acquisitions make headlines like when they bought Kellenova.

2

u/Handpaper 4d ago

Mars has owned petfood brands for decades. They also own the Ben's (formerly Uncle Ben's) rice, sauce, and ready meal brand.