Shaziya Khan’s love for animals made her to setup pet store

Turning her passion into profession, agirl from North Kashmir’s Bandipora district setup the first of its kind pet store that deals with the sale of pets including cats, dogs, birds and turtles. The store also caters to pets with a range of products.
Hailing from Madar village of district, the 26-year-old post graduate,Shaziya Khan started her pet store in 2020 and within a short time, created a name for herself.
Talking to Rising Kashmir, Shaziya said she started a pet store after she lost her pet cat due to a critical health issue for which it was hard to find treatment. With the loss came the realisation that the animal-care sector had multiple gaps, and this prompted her to start her pet store.
Shaziya said from selling pets, the store also deals with animal food, collars, toys and accessories.
She said during covid, she saw that some of her close friends and relativeshaving a dog or a cat were facing a problem of not finding a better healthcare facilities for their pets.
After delving a little deeper into their concerns, and looking at the market, she realized that the lack of knowledge of the veterinary services left pet parents in the dark for basic needs like grooming, training and other services.
Turning down her garments business, she decided to give this a try and founded Pet Store, a platform to provide sale of pets and their services of grooming, food and other services.
Shaziya said that at first, things with the pet business were slow and she was not making any profit but she was determined to keep getting better.
She said that with support from family and especially her father she today has reached the point where she wanted to see herself in this business.
“I think I got the validation that i am on the right path. I am going to give it the next few years and see how it comes along”, she added.