When Dan McDougal and Dirk Budd started their pet business more than 16 years ago, they survived on packages of dried saimin and water. Even their pets ate better than they did.

But the two felt that local pet owners were underserved at the time and were determined to provide them with low-priced, high-quality pet food and supplies. They stuck with it, and today McDougal's and Budd's Pet's Central and Pet's Discount stores make up the largest locally owned pet supply chain in the state.

The original Pet's Central store opened in Kalihi in 1991, and McDougal and Budd launched Pet's Discount Warehouse three years later near the old Salt Lake Costco. Since then, the business partners have opened retail pet supply stores in Hawai'i Kai, Waikele, Kane'ohe and on Kapi'olani Boulevard.

A fifth retail outlet is scheduled to open next month in the Market City shopping center in Kaimuki, and McDougal and Budd plan to open a Kapolei store early next year and another outlet in 'Ewa late next year. The two men also have a Pet's Central in La Habra, Calif.

McDougal said he and Budd "risked everything" in the beginning, but knew their idea would work because he said prices were high and there was little competition among pet stores.

"A bag of dog food that should have been $30 — even in Hawai'i — typically sold for $50 or $60," McDougal said. "So we said, 'Let's just open up a place and base it on volume.' You think about Costco and Sam's Club, it's not really that unique of an idea."

Both men had worked in the pet and animal business for years and used their connections with manufacturers to bring in food and supplies by the container-load. The stores carry 15,000 items and all kinds of animals, from dogs and cats to fish and turtles.

The 17,000-square-foot Pet's Discount Warehouse serves as a retail outlet, as well as a distributor to the smaller retail stores, which allows McDougal and Budd to keep prices down.

"We are the middle man," McDougal said.

McDougal, 54, and Budd, 60, began caring for animals when they were youngsters. McDougal, a native of Oklahoma, and Budd, from Puerto Rico, met in Miami where they operated pet shops.

They came to Hawai'i in 1982 to run quarantine stations for the federal government. It was during this time that McDougal and Budd began to hear from local residents who complained that many breeds of dogs were not available in Hawai'i.

They came up with the idea of opening Pet's Central and importing pure-breed puppies from Australia, which is a rabies-free country, and selling them here. The store also featured locally bred puppies and other animals.

The Pet's Discount supply company was a natural extension of the pet shop, and McDougal and Budd threw their life's savings into the project. But the pair realized quickly that they would succeed.

"Before we even had this warehouse finished, we had people climbing under our door. We had no idea what we had tapped into," McDougal said. "To be perfectly honest, our prices were just normal, fair pricing. We weren't padding it with all the other things that people like to do here."

Budd said the company also has succeeded because it was bringing in brand-name products manufactured on the Mainland, rather than in a foreign country.

"Price is not going to dictate the quality of the product. There's a lot of stuff out there right now that looks good and is cheap, but six months later it's falling apart," Budd said.

McDougal added that low prices and quality products aren't the only "musts" at their stores. He said all 75 employees are animal lovers and the stores are "pet friendly" (pets and owners are allowed in the shops).

McDougal and Budd also believe in giving back to the community and have launched several programs, including a summer reading program in local public schools. They've also welcomed Bonnie Pang, who regularly brings to the warehouse pets from her no-kill Animal Haven organization in hopes of finding them homes.

The response has been a steady and loyal customer base.

"What you give out is what you're going to get back," McDougal said.

Neither owner would disclose annual sales, but McDougal did say, "We do very well."

Although three more stores are set to open in the next year, McDougal and Budd said they envision more down the line, including possibly expanding to the Neighbor Islands.

"It's becoming more and more difficult for our customers to get to a store that's far away," McDougal said. "If there's a need, we look to where the population is, and if it's underserved, we want to serve them."

Reach Curtis Lum at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.