Crisis Communications for Pet Businesses: Roshini Rajkumar on Protecting Your Reputation Before Trouble Strikes

Crisis communications for pet businesses is about preparing before an unexpected incident puts your reputation, customers or animals at risk. Strategist Roshini Rajkumar shares a practical three-part test that pet businesses, veterinary practices, groomers, boarding facilities, rescues and nonprofits can use to become crisis-ready.

Show Summary

No pet business wants to imagine the day something goes seriously wrong. But as crisis strategist, attorney and former television reporter Roshini Rajkumar knows crisis communications for pet businesses. She says the question isn’t whether a crisis will happen — it’s when.

In this episode of The Whisker Report, host Mary Tan talks with Rajkumar about crisis communications, reputation management and why even the smallest pet business needs a plan. Her advice applies to everyone from independent pet stores and veterinary practices to groomers, boarding facilities, animal shelters and pet product companies.

The conversation covers how to identify stakeholders, choose the right spokespeople, prepare employees, work with attorneys and communicate with the media when emotions are running high. They are critical when it comes to crisis communications for pet businesses.

Most importantly, Rajkumar explains why crisis preparation doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. The work begins long before the crisis arrives.

Why Every Pet Business Needs a Crisis Plan

A crisis can take many forms in the pet industry. It could be an animal injury or death, a product recall, an employee misconduct allegation, a customer complaint that goes viral, a leadership dispute, a data or confidentiality problem. Or maybe it’s a reporter suddenly showing up at your door after something has gone wrong. For pet businesses, the stakes can be particularly emotional because customers don’t view animals as ordinary products or transactions. They view their pets as family members.

Rajkumar says that emotional connection can dramatically intensify the public response when something goes wrong. “Animals are such unconditional love. They are like a family member,” she says. That means pet businesses need to think about reputation before they need to defend it.

Rajkumar’s Crisis Test

Rajkumar’s advice for smaller organizations starts with a simple three part exercise she uses with clients and audiences around the country.

1. Identify Your Internal and External Stakeholders

The first question is deceptively simple: Who are your stakeholders?

Employees are internal stakeholders. Customers are external stakeholders. But the list can be much longer. A business might also have a board or advisory board, investors, vendors, regulators, local government officials and community partners.

And then there’s the media. Rajkumar emphasizes that journalists are an important external stakeholder because a crisis can quickly become a news story. When that happens, the media will be looking for information, answers and someone who can speak on behalf of the organization. Rajkumar emphasizes that journalists are an important external stakeholder because a crisis can quickly become a news story. When that happens, the media will be looking for information, answers and someone who can speak on behalf of the organization.

Her recommendation is to sit down with your team and identify these audiences before anything goes wrong. Even a 45-minute team exercise can expose gaps you didn’t realize existed.

2. Understand What Each Audience Needs

Once you’ve identified your stakeholders, the next step is to understand them. Different audiences need different information.

Employees may want to know whether their workplace is safe and what they should tell customers. Customers may want to know whether their pets are safe. Regulators may need specific documentation. The media may need verified facts and access to an appropriate spokesperson. There is no one-size-fits-all crisis message. Rajkumar says businesses should think ahead about how they will communicate with each audience if a crisis occurs — and how they can address potential problems before they become a crisis.

3. Choose Your Spokespeople

The third part of the test is deciding who should speak for the organization.

That person isn’t automatically the owner.

A spokesperson needs to understand the organization, communicate clearly and remain composed under pressure. Rajkumar recommends identifying one, two or three people who could potentially represent the business and giving them appropriate preparation. If a reporter calls, you should already know who is authorized to respond.

Preparation Should Happen When You’re Calm

One of the biggest mistakes business owners when it comes to crisis communications for pet businesses is waiting until a crisis happens to develop a crisis plan.

Rajkumar recommends doing the three-part exercise while everything is going well.

Once a crisis lands, the first step is much simpler: Stay calm. That can be difficult when an animal has been injured, a customer is angry, employees are walking out or reporters are arriving at your business.

But panic can lead to poor decisions, inconsistent messaging and statements that create even bigger problems.

Preparation gives leaders something to fall back on when emotions are high.

As Rajkumar puts it, “hope is not a strategy.”

Don’t Forget the Legal Side of Crisis Planning

Rajkumar’s legal background also shapes her approach to crisis preparation.

She recommends that pet businesses have a relationship with a qualified business attorney before they need one.

For smaller organizations, that doesn’t necessarily mean maintaining an expensive legal retainer. Rajkumar suggests asking trusted professionals such as accountants or financial advisers for referrals and exploring legal clinics at universities, where supervised law students may provide services at little or no cost.

The goal is to build a professional team before an emergency. That team might include an attorney, accountant, public relations professional and other advisers who understand the business and can help identify risks.

Employee Agreements Can Protect Your Business

The conversation also highlights a less obvious area of crisis communications for pet businesses: employee agreements and confidentiality.

Rajkumar discusses a scenario in which employees leave a business and take company information with them. A straightforward employee agreement can establish that information contained in a company’s databases and systems is confidential and cannot be taken or used outside the employee’s work. This is particularly relevant for businesses that maintain customer information, client records, email databases or other proprietary information.

For pet businesses, that could include information belonging to customers and their animals.

The broader lesson is simple: Don’t assume everyone will always make the right decision. Plan for what could go wrong, even when you trust the people around you.

Why Pet Industry Crises Can Become So Emotional

A crisis involving an animal can strike a particularly sensitive nerve. Pet owners often consider their animals members of the family, which means an injury or death can trigger a powerful emotional response. If a pet is harmed because of a product, service or business decision, customers may not simply see it as a business problem. They may see it as a personal betrayal.

That’s why Rajkumar emphasizes three qualities for pet businesses:

• Customer appreciation

• Transparency

• Honesty and ethics

A reputation can disappear quickly, while rebuilding it can take years. For pet brands, veterinary practices and animal organizations, trust isn’t an abstract concept. It is part of the business’s most valuable assets.

Don’t Hide From the Media During a Crisis

When reporters begin calling, the instinct to shut the doors and avoid the phone can be strong. But disappearing doesn’t make a crisis disappear.

Rajkumar recommends knowing who your spokesperson is and having a process for responding when the media comes knocking. That doesn’t mean answering every question immediately.

Businesses should take the time they need to gather accurate information and determine what they can responsibly say. But there is a major difference between taking time to prepare and simply refusing to engage. A business that has already built relationships with local reporters has another advantage.

Rajkumar encourages pet businesses to introduce themselves to local journalists before they need coverage. Invite reporters to learn about the business. Let them know you’re available as a resource for pet-related stories. Those relationships can become valuable when news breaks.

Transparency Can Help You Rebuild Trust

Rajkumar points to the 1982 Tylenol crisis as a classic example of crisis management.

After cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules killed people in the Chicago area, the company responded with a massive recall and public warnings. The response has since become a frequently cited case study in crisis communications. Johnson & Johnson’s own history credits CEO James Burke with responding effectively and helping restore public trust.

For pet businesses, the lesson isn’t that every crisis requires the same response. It’s that organizations should not try to hide from a serious problem.

Rajkumar’s advice is to be transparent, take responsibility for what you know, communicate clearly and tell your story rather than allowing someone else to define it for you.

That principle is especially important during pet food or product recalls, when customers need timely, accurate information. The FDA maintains current advisories and recall information for animal products, underscoring how quickly safety concerns can become public-facing issues for the pet industry.

Look for the Failure Before It Happens

Rajkumar’s final piece of advice may be the most useful for pet business owners. Don’t build your crisis plan alone.

Ask employees, advisers and trusted outside professionals to pressure-test the business.

Ask:

• What could go wrong?

• Where are our vulnerabilities?

• If an employee leaves suddenly are we prepared?

• If an animal is injured what happens?

• Are we prepared for a recall?

• Who talks to the media?

• Who talks to customers?

• Who handles legal questions?

• What information would we need immediately?

• Where are the gaps in our current systems?

Employees can be especially valuable because they’re often closest to the day-to-day operation. But they need to feel safe enough to tell leadership what they really see. An open culture can help organizations discover problems before customers, regulators or journalists do.

Key Takeaways From the Episode

• Every pet business needs a crisis plan. It doesn’t have to be complicated, but it needs to exist.

• Identify your stakeholders before a crisis. Employees, customers, boards, regulators and the media may all play different roles.

• Know your spokespeople. Don’t wait until a reporter is at the door to decide who speaks for the organization.

• Stay calm. Emotional reactions can make an already difficult situation worse.

• Build your professional team early. A good business attorney and other trusted advisers can be invaluable during a crisis.

• Protect confidential information. Employee agreements and clear policies can help protect business and customer information.

• Build media relationships before you need them. Being known as a reliable source can help when breaking news affects your industry.

• Be transparent. Trying to hide a problem can damage trust more than acknowledging it.

• Pressure-test your business. Ask employees and outside advisers to identify vulnerabilities before they become crises.

• Remember that reputation takes time to build. Protecting it should be part of everyday business strategy, not an emergency-only activity.

About Roshini Rajkumar

Roshini Rajkumar is a crisis specialist, C-suite adviser, mainstage speaker and podcaster. Her clients include Fortune 500 brands, private-equity-backed firms and C-suite executives who rely on her for change management, human capital strategy, crisis prevention and crisis management.

A licensed attorney and former television reporter, Rajkumar brings both legal and newsroom experience to her work. She is the executive producer and host of The Crisis Files podcast and regularly serves as a legal, political and crisis analyst for media outlets around the United States.

Rajkumar’s background gives her a distinctive perspective on the intersection of reputation, media relations, leadership and crisis response.

She can be found at RoshiniInc.com and CrisisFiles.com.

Listen to The Crisis Files

Rajkumar’s podcast, The Crisis Files, launched in August 2022 and explores real-world crisis scenarios, public relations mishaps and lessons leaders can apply before trouble strikes. At the time of the recording, the show was preparing to enter its fifth season in August 2026.

Listen, Learn and Grow With The Whisker Report

Every episode of The Whisker Report brings practical PR, marketing, media relations and communications advice to the people who keep the pet industry moving — from independent pet businesses and veterinary practices to animal rescues, nonprofits and growing pet brands.

If you enjoyed this conversation, subscribe to The Whisker Report wherever you get your podcasts so you don’t miss future episodes.

And if your pet business or animal organization needs help preparing for a crisis, building media relationships, developing thought leadership or getting your story in front of the right audience, Whisker Media can help. Our team specializes in pet PR and strategic communications designed to build visibility, credibility and trust before you need it.

Because when it comes to your reputation, preparation is always easier than damage control.

Bark Loud and Purr Smart!