Petco opens canine kitchen in New York City

Employees prepare food in a JustFoodForDogs kitchen in Petco's New York Union Square location right next to Petco's in-store veterinary clinic, PetCoach. (Photo courtesy of Petco)

You get fresh food in the grocery store or restaurant.

Now, dogs in New York City can get it, too, thanks to national pet retailer Petco opening an in-store “health and wellness kitchen for dogs” in its Union Square location run by JustFoodForDogs.

Petco's other moves in pet health

How have we covered Petco's possible effects on veterinary medicine and veterinary hospitals in recent years? The company:

> Launched an in-store low-cost veterinary hospital

> Offered subscription-based veterinary care

> Announced an online pharmacy alliance

> Banned pet food and treats with artificial ingredients

The kitchen opened May 10 and joins JustFoodForDogs' other stand-alone kitchens in California and Seattle and future ones under construction in Boston and Chicago.

“The ability to provide fresh, made-before-your-eyes pet food with real, unprocessed human-grade ingredients is game-changing, both for Petco and for the pets and pet parents we serve,” said Petco co-chief merchandising officer Nick Konat in the release.

An employee prepares food in a JustFoodForDogs kitchen in Petco's New York Union Square location. (Photo courtesy of Petco)

JustFoodForDogs plans to open other pantries and kitchens in Petco locations in the next four years, but already sells its food in more than 1,000 Petco stores nationwide.

According to the company, which was founded in 2010, its diets of “freshly prepared, human-grade pet food” are created for dogs and cats by staff veterinarians and go through a quality control process approved by a board-certified toxicologist. In addition, the company works with veterinarians to create custom diets for pets suffering from obesity, digestive disorders, pancreatitis, diabetes, liver disease and more.