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6 mins Read
Dec 22, 2025
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As someone who’s lived in the UAE for close to five years, I can confidently say this, Pets in the UAE are no longer treated as animals, they are treated as family and spending patterns clearly reflect that shift.
Looking back at 2025, it’s evident that the UAE pet market is no longer an “emerging” category. It has evolved into a full-scale consumer industry, experiencing one of the fastest growth curves in the region. What began as a niche, expat-driven trend a decade ago, has now transformed into a mainstream lifestyle movement, cutting across demographics, income brackets, cultures and cities.
Over the past decade, the UAE has seen a dramatic rise in pet ownership.
Cats continue to dominate household presence, but dogs have recorded the fastest adoption growth, especially among expats, young professionals, and families living in villa communities and pet-friendly developments.
By the end of 2025:
Simply put:This industry isn’t slowing down, it’s accelerating.
One of the clearest signs of industry maturity in 2025 was the scale and seriousness of pet-focused events.
Pet World Arabia 2025, held at the Dubai World Trade Centre, hosted:
This event has quietly become the central meeting point for the Middle East pet industry, driving partnerships, distribution deals, and product launches.
The DUBAI PET FESTIVAL 2025, was held on December 6th & 7th at the Birds & Pets Market Grounds - Al Warsan - Dubai, which featured:
Beyond expos, 2025 also saw:
Pet events evolving into customer acquisition and brand-building platforms, not just community gatherings
Another defining milestone of 2025 was institutional confidence.
One of the most important moves in the UAE pet industry was:
The Petshop today spans:
This acquisition signalled something important to the market:
The UAE pet industry is now large, stable, and predictable enough for private equity.
Alongside this, early-stage funding and angel investments increased across:
While mega funding rounds are still rare, 2025 marked the year investors stopped asking “if” and started asking “how big.”
The ecosystem in 2025 wasn’t defined by one unicorn, but by many focused, problem-solving startups.
Some notable names shaping the space:
What’s interesting is the pattern:Most startups are tackling convenience, data, and access, clear indicators of a maturing consumer base.
Several lifestyle shifts directly shaped demand this year:
Due to long work hours and frequent travel, pet parents rely on structured care environments like daycare and short-to-long-term boarding facilities over informal sitters. This demand is so high that during peak seasons such as summer and holidays, many boarding facilities are operating near full capacity.
Mobile grooming isn't a premium service anymore, it's become an expected service, particularly in cities like Dubai. Factors such as high-rise living, tight schedules, and multi-pet households have significantly boosted the popularity of grooming vans, especially within gated communities where weekly group bookings are now common.
The UAE market saw a significant shift from single-outlet grooming salons to multi-location, multi-service pet brands. Operators expanded rapidly across neighborhoods, communities, and even entire emirates, which in turn introduced new layers of operational complexity.
Pet parents increasingly choose:
Price sensitivity has reduced significantly when quality, safety, and convenience are clear.
Strong growth was seen in:
Pet parents are thinking long-term, not reactive.
Most customers now:
This shift has deep operational implications.
After speaking with 50+ pet businesses across the UAE, one pattern remained constant, businesses offering grooming, boarding, training, mobile grooming, retail, and vet services are operating using 5–6 disconnected tools.
This often involves one system for bookings, a separate one for reminders, a dedicated POS or billing system, and perhaps HR software for staff. Critically, customer records are frequently managed through inefficient methods like Excel or WhatsApp, while crucial pet notes and vaccination details are still relegated to pen-and-paper.
This disjointed setup invariably leads to significant operational chaos, manifesting as missed appointments, overbookings, lost or outdated customer records, a complete lack of centralised reporting, and an absence of automation. Ultimately, this fragmentation prevents businesses from gaining a holistic view of customer lifetime value and, most importantly, stifles the development of a scalable structure essential for expansion or franchising.
“We’re growing fast, but we don’t know how to manage the growth.” - Saad Khan (Founder: Pets Paradise)
The UAE pet industry has clearly demonstrated proven demand, achieved significant scale, and successfully attracted serious capital. Looking ahead to 2026, the focus will squarely shift towards achieving operational efficiency, ensuring consistency across multiple locations, boosting customer retention, embracing automation, and driving widespread tech adoption, all depended on the implementation of scalable systems for franchising and expansion. Businesses that strategically streamline their operations will undoubtedly emerge victorious, while those clinging to manual processes will inevitably hit growth ceilings.
Working closely with pet businesses across the UAE and the region, we’ve seen these challenges firsthand.
That’s why we built Happy Pet Tech, a single, unified platform designed specifically for how pet businesses actually operate.
Instead of juggling multiple tools, businesses can manage:
—all in one place.
Happy Pet Tech isn’t just software.It’s infrastructure for a fast-growing industry.
The trends of 2025 have unequivocally solidified pet ownership in the UAE as a lasting cultural shift, not merely a passing phase. Yet, this explosive industry growth is quickly outpacing its traditional, manual systems. The businesses that will truly thrive in 2026 are those that embrace smarter, technology-driven operations, and Happy Pet Tech is here to collaboratively build that efficient and prosperous future.
