No Hot Pets Campaign Updates

Originally created and launched in 2012 by the Ontario SPCA, the goal of the campaign is to share the important message of not leaving your pets in vehicles this summer.

The OSPCA is pleased to report that they have over 30 shelters participating including the Ontario SPCA Branch, some of their affiliates, as well as shelters across Canada. They have received close to 1,600 pledges so far!

Even more exciting is that the marketing campaign has received close to 10 million impressions since the campaign started. The message is getting out there! The campaign will run until September. For more details on the No Hot Pets campaign, visit www.nohotpets.ca.

Mise à jour de la campagne No Hot Pets

Cette campagne a été initialement créée et lancée en 2012 par la SPCA de l’Ontario pour communiquer un message important qui rappelle de ne pas oublier vos animaux de compagnie dans les véhicules cet été. 

La SPCA de l'Ontario est fière d'annoncer que plus de 30 refuges participent à la campagne, incluant la branche de la SPCA de l'Ontario, quelques-uns de leurs associés, ainsi que d'autres refuges au travers du pays. Ils ont reçu près de 1600 engagements à date!

Ce qui est encore plus excitant est que la campagne de marketing a reçu près de 10 millions d'impressions depuis son début.  Le message se propage!  La campagne se déroulera jusqu'en septembre.  Pour plus de détails sur la campagne No Hot Pets, visitez le www.nohotpets.ca.

Successful Mechanics of a Pet Care Crisis Response

Amazing things can come from adversity, like in Alberta, when cities flood people go to work.  There have been many articles about the tireless volunteers out west who have been helping those in need during the devastating floods.   For this article we would like to take a broader look at the implications of what has happened in Alberta when industry meets community.

This story begins with our friends at the Calgary InterfaithFood Bank.  For the last four weeks, the food bank has become a type of headquarters for pet families and pet care organizations in need, both in the city and out.  "Pet items have been essential for flood relief efforts, as we have many pets that are without basics", explains Trudy Webster of the Food Bank.

When the water hit, Petland Charities (Canada) approached the Food Bank offering to help by raising funds and facilitating the donation of much needed food and products for pet families affected by the disaster.  The company reached out to their clients, suppliers and staff to help.  Seven corporate Calgary stores, plus the two in Edmonton and one in Red Deer sprang into action collecting donations of cash, food and products, including a $5000 donation from head office.  Add to that the generosity from Nutro and Nutrience who donated pallets of dog and cat food.  Local BolleaLogistics, a transport company, provided the muscle by donating a truck and staff to collect all the donations and deliver them to the Food Bank.  The outcome was 19 pallets of food and products delivered free of charge to the Food Bank and a monetary donation of over $14,800. 

The Food Bank immediately began directing the supplies back into the communities targeting the local organizations and city departments that could ensure the aid got exactly where it needed to go. This is included a number of animal rescues, the Calgary Humane Society, and towns such as Morley, High River, Blacky and Longview.

This isn’t where the story finishes, there are endless ripples. Citizens like Gail Dzuiba and her colleagues from Alberta Health Services are using their employee volunteer hours to help. PIJAC Canada members such as Tisol Nutrition & Pet Supply stores in Vancouver and Pets West in Victoria have offered donations and assistance. More have provided donations to other organizations, like Pisces Pet Emporium who outfitted their staff of over 70 people in Red Cross fund raiser "Come Hell or High Water" t-shirts. 

This crisis and the others that have occurred in Canada have made one thing clear, no matter where in the pet world someone is from, be it a pet family, rescue, retail, manufacturer or government, the common passionate goal is the well-being of pets and their families. Differences of opinions can diminish significantly when we see the tremendous things we can accomplish by working together.

Comment réussir les efforts de secours des animaux en temps de crise

Les situations difficiles peuvent inspirer des gestes incroyables. Nous l’avons constaté en Alberta, où les inondations ont déclenché une extraordinaire action citoyenne. Puisque d’innombrables articles ont bien relaté les exploits de ces infatigables volontaires de l’Ouest, nous nous pencherons aujourd’hui sur ce qui s’est produit en Alberta lorsque l’industrie a travaillé main dans la main avec la collectivité. 

La banque alimentaire Interfaith de Calgary, au cours des quatre dernières semaines, est devenue un lieu de rassemblement pour les familles propriétaires d’animaux et les organismes de secours aux animaux dans le besoin, venus de la ville et des environs pour y trouver de l’aide. « Les articles pour animaux ont été au centre des actions de secours pendant l’inondation. En effet, de nombreux animaux sont sans toit et ne sont plus nourris », explique Trudy Webster de la banque alimentaire.

Suite aux inondations, Petland (Canada) a offert son aide à la banque alimentaire en levant des fonds et en supervisant les dons de nourriture et de produits pour animaux aux familles touchées par le désastre. Petland a encouragé clients, fournisseurs et personnel à s’associer à ses efforts. En plus des sept magasins franchisés de Calgary, les trois d’Edmonton et un à Red Deer et Grande Prairie ont recueilli des dons en argent, en nourriture et en produits, qui se sont ajouté au don de 5000 $ et 50 contenants de Here Kitty litter du Petland Charities. La même générosité a été exprimée par Nutro et Nutrience qui ont fait don de palettes de nourriture pour chiens et pour chat, et par Bollea Logistics, une société de transport de la région, qui a fourni un camion et du personnel pour recueillir et livrer les dons à la banque alimentaire. Ainsi, 19 palettes de nourriture et de produits ont été acheminées gratuitement à la banque alimentaire, qui a aussi reçu un don en argent de 14,800 $.

 

La banque alimentaire a immédiatement distribué les produits dans la collectivité en favorisant les organismes et services municipaux de la région pouvant apporter les secours exactement là où les besoins étaient les plus grands : refuges pour animaux, la Calgary Humane Society ainsi que les villes de Morley, High River, Blacky et Longview. 

Mais ce n’est pas tout, et cette générosité ne cesse de se manifester. Des citoyens comme Gail Dzuiba et ses collègues des Services de santé provinciaux de l’Alberta ont consacré leurs heures de bénévolat à la cause. Des membres de PIJAC Canada, comme Tisol Pet Supply de Vancouver et Pets West de Victoria ont fait des dons et offert leur aide. D’autres ont versé des dons à d’autres organismes, tel que Pisces Pet Emporium qui a offert son personnel de plus de 70 employés des t-shirts de la Croix-Rouge dans le cadre d’une levée de fonds. 

Cette crise, comme les autres qui ont frappé au Canada, démontrent clairement que tous les acteurs de l’industrie des produits pour animaux, qu’ils soient propriétaires, secouristes, détaillants, fabricants ou membres du gouvernement, partagent la même passion pour le bien-être des animaux et de leurs familles. Toutes les différences d’opinion s’estompent lorsque l’on prend véritablement conscience de ce que nous pouvons accomplir lorsque nous travaillons main dans la main.

Rollover to the Rescue

PIJAC Canada Members help High River Pets 

When the flooding began in High River it seemed as though the water would never stop.  As levels got higher, people were evacuated and had to leave their pets behind.  Days later these animals began to be rescued and put in temporary shelters.  Some shelters were owned by rescue groups and others in people’s homes and farms.  

Cut off from her office, Belinda Elyzen, Director of Sales and Marketing for Rollover Pet Food Ltd.,a member of PIJAC Canada, logged onto her laptop and began contacting her clients letting them know they were being waylaid by the flooding.  One call Belinda made was to Linda Klaassen at Pan Pacific Pet (food and supply distribution) in BC.  As they spoke an idea took root and the two women began devising a plan on how they may be able to help the pets of High River.  Before long Belinda had received another call from Phil Klaassen, of Pan Pacific Pet (also an association member), saying they wanted to help and asking if she had anyway to pick up and deliver donations.   Belinda being the industrious person she is hooked up her horse trailer and sped off to their Calgary location . At this point I would like to add that a couple weeks prior Belinda had been in an accident with her horse and was doing all this with a fractured pelvis.  

Twice Pan Pacific loaded up Belinda’s trailer with dog and cat food, crates, bedding, disinfecting wipes, exercise pens, litter and litter boxes.  In addition to organizing and transporting these supplies to High River, Belinda,  her friends at Country Cuts, Cyndi’s Pet Palace and others opened their farms to take in homeless animals.  The supplies were then delivered to wherever the needs were, including the Heaven Can Wait Animal Rescue who was positively overrun with cats.  Because a number of the animals who had been rescued did not have identification, these good samaritans set up www.highriverpets.com which includes pictures of the animals in hopes of reuniting the pets with their families. We are happy to report that they are successfully achieving their goal.  It is also important to note that many of the evacuees are seniors that are not internet savvy and therefore do not know where to look for their animals so many pets, mostly cats, are still in temporary accommodations. As the days march on, Belinda and the volunteers are hopeful that each pet will be returned to its family. 

We also want to take a moment to mention the generosity of Trueman Distribution who also donated desperately needed cat crates and to all our members around the country who have been sending help in any way they can.  If you have a story to share of how your company or another has helped pets during this crisis or in any other situation please let us know so we can share it "The Voice" e-newsbrief and Linkedin.  For over a year we have been running a campaign called "Animal welfare is everyone’s business!"TM, these last weeks have been a perfect example of how the industry truly cares about the wellbeing of our pets.  Thank you to Belinda at Rollover, the amazing team at Pan Pacific Pet and everyone out there who has stepped forward to help. 

S.O.S. Lac Mégantic

S.O.S. Lac-Mégantic

La retombée de l'explosion dévastatrice au Lac-Mégantic est presque qu'imcompréhensible! Pendant qu'ils essaient de se remettre de cette catastrophe, tous les services d'urgence ont afflué à la petite ville pour aider, incluant la SPA Estrie, qui est la SPA qui supervise les dossiers animals des Cantons de l'Est au Québec. Présentement, il y a des animaux qui se font traiter et soigner dans des établissements locaux, telles des écoles. Nous avons contacté nos collègues à la SPA pour savoir comment nous, l'industrie, pouvons aider. Ils nous ont informé de vous faire parvenir un lien à leur campagne de levée de fonds pour aider à couvrir les coûts associés à cette opération de secours des animaux de compagnie. Suivez le lien S.O.S. Lac-Mégantic ci-dessous pour être redirigé à leur site Internet. Pour les compagnies anglophones, nous avons fournis un lien de traduction Google pour cette page. 


De nombreuses situations d'urgence sont survenues au Canada depuis juin et pendant que nous suivont les déroulements de chacune, en demandant du l'appui de nos partenaires à travers le pays, nous avons reçus plusieurs histoires de générosité et de détermination de ceux qui ont volontairement offert ce qu'ils avaient pour ceux dans le besoin. Merci à tous pour votre aide et à vous pour l'attention donné à cette histoire.

S.O.S. Lac-Mégantic

The fallout from the devastating explosion in Lac-Mégantic is almost incomprehensible. As they begin to recover, all types of emergency services have flowed into the tiny town to help, including the SPA Estrie, which is the SPCA that oversees animal issues in the Eastern Townships of Quebec.   Currently, there are animals being treated and cared for in local buildings such as the high school. We contacted our colleagues at the SPA to see how we, the industry, could help and they asked for us to pass along to you a link to their fund raising campaign to help cover the cost of this pet big rescue and recovery operation. Follow the S.O.S. Lac-Mégantic link below to be taken to their webpage.

A number of emergency situations have arisen in Canada since June and as we have followed along with each of them, reaching out to our partners in pets across the country we have received in return tremendous stories of generosity and determination of those who freely offer what they can to help those in need. Thank you to everyone who has lent a hand and to you for your kind attention to this story.

 

Score one for Winnipeg Pets and Pet Stores!

The city of Winnipeg’s proposed responsible ownership pet bylaw was approved by council at the end of last week.  It repeals the standing animal control and exotic animal control bylaws.  This new bylaw continues to allow the sale of dogs and cats in stores and offers a list of prohibited exotic species, a welcome outcome for local PIJAC Canada members.  “We were made aware of the proposed by law in the fall of last year and worked closely with our members to present their position and that of the association to city Council on the 14^th of January.  Depositions of members like Lance Rosolowich of Pet Traders and Amy Pawson of Petland Canada helped send the proposed draft back for additional research and review.”, say Louis McCann, Executive Director of PIJAC Canada, “The result being a bylaw which allows local businesses to continue to offer pets to their community.  We are extremely proud of our members involvement and dedication to this community decision”.  Exotic pet owners are also relieved as the laws are now less confusing as to what they can or can’t own within the limits of the City of Winnipeg.

In addition, a cat licensing program was also included in the bylaw which calls for all citizens with cats to get them licensed starting in 2015.  This type of program has been in place in Calgary since 2006 and has significantly increased the number of cats returned to owners in that city and decreased the numbers in shelters.  A great step forward by Council to address a serious pet issue.