More Troubles for Petnet Smart Feeder

Petnet, the Los Angeles-based company that makes a smart feeder for dogs and cats, appears to be having more problems with their product.

The connected feeders went offline back in February, and the resulting lack of customer service caused many customers to vent their frustration online.

Now, the company is blaming COVID-19 for additional problems with their devices. Petnet sent its customers the following email on April 23:

Dear Petnet Customers,

Last week on April 14, 2020, we briefed all of our customers regarding one of our third-party connected vendor’s inability to fully resource their company and stay functionally online,” the message reads. “As of this writing, this situation remains unresolved but we are confident it will be overcome soon.”

But due to the exceptional circumstances the COVID-19 pandemic has created, Petnet went on, many of its vendors—largely startups like itself—were “severely and negatively affected in their day to day operations.” In short: the funding dried up. Due to a lack of funds, Petnet said, it “re-prioritized and reorganized [its] resources,” including:

• We have furloughed 100% of our remaining staff
• We have ceased all future product development, including bug fixes
• We have turned off all non-infrastructure related expenses
• We have terminated our office lease and are working remotely
• We have applied for all available CARES stimulus funding

Best Regards,

The Petnet Team