Twenty years ago, when ‘little Marc’ was a lanky geeky teenager, with few human friends and a life-moulding obsession with animals and nature, he started to do work experience at his local vet every Saturday morning.

The vets name was Tony Lewis, and I’m forever grateful to Mr Lewis for introducing me to the style of vetting that I’ve never ever seen bettered in my 13 years in practice.

You see Mr Lewis combined ‘putting the animal first’ and ‘personal touch’ with ‘value for money’ – the three golden rules resulting in a cheery and relaxed packed waiting room, with clients and their pets coming from far and wide to sit and wait happily in.

Sounds simple right? But in this day and age, and I’m sad to say it, the ethics of some members of the profession seem to be more intent on pushing units of flea product, over-hospitalizing pets and blatantly overcharging worried clients, especially if their pets are insured.

If you’re a regular reader of this column, you’ll know that I’m passionate about client and animal care, as well as value for money and responsible pet ownership. So I’ve come up with an idea with my digital media expert business partner Andrew Seel (from Brighton-based Qube Media), to revolutionize our pet industry forever…

We’re about to shake it right up. The only way to ensure value for money and make sure that the most pet-friendly businesses deserve the custom in this consumer-driven day-and-age is to let you, the pet owner decide for yourselves, by rating and commenting on the service you and your pet have received – a bit like Tripadvisor.

And we’re not just talking about vets. Pet-friendly pubs, hotels, groomers, kennels and catteries will also feature. By building pet-loving communities and encouraging word-of-mouth and sharing experiences, there’s only one way for standards to go, and that’s most definitely up.

Launching this autumn (by a very special guest indeed!), ThePet.net aims to be the most trusted and up-to-date source of pet information available on the web. We’ve already received massive support from celebrities, charities and organizations, including the Kennel Club, Vets Get Scanning and the Bella Moss Foundation.

And if you’re a forward-thinking animal-loving businesses or individual, and you’d be interested becoming a sponsor of this unique and ground-breaking project, then please let me know asap.

So there you have it. If pets continue to be regarded as luxury items that cost a fortune (when I’m sure they were once a normal part of everyone’s family?!), they will never be replaced again, and in the very near future, sadly we’ll see less and less of them around.

So visit ThePet.net today to register your interest, and of course, please tell your pet-loving friends!

Thank you Mr Lewis.