"Negotiations with the local authorities of the individual countries are not easy. There is a great deal of understanding that closing pet shops could threaten the nationwide supply of pet food and accessories. On the other hand, governments also want to do everything possible to contain the pandemic," explains Dusan Placek, Managing Director of Placek Group, which operates pet shops in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Russia, Latvia and Romania.
In Spain, pet shops and animal clinics may remain open. The pet shop chains Kiwoko and Tiendanimal are informing their customers about this in a joint statement.
The organising committee of World Dog Show 2020 has postponed the event in Madrid from end of April to July due to the advance of Coronavirus.
From the neighbouring country Portugal it is reported that the pet shops are also currently still open.
Nevertheless, preparations are underway in all countries for the case that pet shops will still have to close. Specialist retailers who do not have an online shop are preparing a kind of delivery service for pet owners.
The supply of goods is also likely to become increasingly difficult. With more and more European countries closing their borders, the movement of goods is likely to be noticeably restricted in the forthcoming weeks.