At No. 92, Aussie Pet Mobile (Dana Point, Calif.), which offers mobile pet grooming services, was the highest-ranked pet-related business on the list. It has made the list four years in a row.

Petland Inc. (Chillicothe, Ohio), at No. 248, was the highest-ranked pet store on the list. The full-service pet retailer has appeared on the list three out of the last four years.

Pet Supplies “Plus” (Farmington Hills, Mich.), which sells pet supplies, was No. 295 on the list. It has appeared on the list two consecutive years.

Bark Busters (Greenwood Village, Colo.), offering in-home dog-training, was No. 278. It has appeared on the list three consecutive years, and last year was ranked 468.

Other pet-related businesses making the Entrepreneur Franchise 500 include Wild Birds Unlimited (Carmel, Ind.), which retails bird-feeding supplies and nature-oriented gift items, at No. 210; and Wild Bird Centers of America (Glen Echo, Md.), which retails bird-watching and feeding supplies, at No. 374.

Entrepreneur’s rankings are based on factors such as financial strength, stability, growth rate, size of the franchise system, number of years in business, length of time franchising, start-up costs, litigation, percentage of terminations and whether the company provides financing. Every company with verifiable data receives a cumulative score, and the franchises with the highest cumulative scores become the Franchise 500. [April 2005 PET AGE]