Amy Pawson, Director of
Operations of Petland Canada Company Store Division in Calgary, and Erica
Coomber, Shelter Administrator, Alberta Animal Services in Red Deer, work in a
spirit of collaboration and innovation to operate a pet adoption program that
is making a significant difference in their community and beyond. We are
thrilled that they will deliver the Integrated Retail Adoption Centres Keynote address at
the 2014 Regional Summits for Urban Animal Strategies in Toronto and Halifax. We can hardly wait to
hear about their most recent developments, so we invited Infostream Guest
Author Terri Perrin to ask them for a program update.
Infostream (IS): Please give us an
overview of your program and how your organizations came to work together.
Erica
Coomber (EC): I met Robert Brissette, President of Petland
Canada, at the 2011 Regional Summit for Urban Animal Strategies held in Red
Deer. Robert spoke about how Petland was no longer going to be selling puppies
and kittens and how he wanted to work with local animal shelters to re-home
pets. I jumped at the opportunity! Alberta Animal Services transferred their
first adoptable pets to the Red Deer Petland’s existing facilities in May 2011.
In
2012/13, Petland built the current in-store adoption centre that has 12 dog and
12 cat runs. It opened in May 2013. Alberta Animal Services has four dedicated
adoption specialists managing this location and we average 30+ adoptions per
month. The program is so successful that we partner with rescue agencies across
Alberta and the North West Territories, to transfer in dogs from other areas.
Amy Pawson (AP): Petland decided to adapt our kennel
area and provide space for community rescue partnerships in all of our company
stores locations across Canada. This was new territory for us and we didn’t
know what to expect or who would partner.
We had the
opportunity to attending the Regional and National Summits; this is where we
met the team from Alberta Animal Services. It was definitely a highlight for us.
We are thrilled with how the partnership with them has worked out. All of our locations
now have in-store adoption programs. Each store is a little different,
involving a variety of community partners.
IS: So the program can be replicated
in other regions?
EC:
Absolutely! But it takes hard
work, dedication and forward thinking. You can’t be afraid of change. I have to
admit it was scary at first but I always kept the
interest of my shelter animals in mind. No matter what, it is always about
saving lives. It takes two to make it work … just like in a marriage. We maintain our great working relationship by
keeping in constant communication and, when situations arise, we come together to
find solutions and work it out as a team.
AP: I agree and stress that, as our
industry becomes more and more competitive, collaboration is the key to making
these types of programs work.
IS: How would you suggest other
organizations get started?
EC: Come to Red Deer and tour our
adoption centre, then sit down with Amy and me. We can show you how it works. If
you think this is something you can bring to your community, we can help you
along the way.
AP: Once you have the concept, reaching out to others who have
successful programs as a resource is essential. Have a plan to create a foundation and building blocks to
bring it all together. There are a lot of things to work out… and much of it we
have overcome through trial and error. I am open to collaborating with everyone
because the purpose is to find homes for animals.
IS: You were part of the inaugural
Innovation Showcase program and you presented at the 2013 Regional and Annual
Summits for Urban Animal Strategies. Tell us a little about your respective
experiences on this journey.
AP: Every Summit I have attended has
been an excellent experience. Each year I get to know people better. Canada is
large and so, to be able to share and gather ideas from each region, celebrate
them, and capture the joy of pet ownership and why, at the end of the day, and
break down barriers. The networking is, by far, the most valuable. You get to
meet people that you may not have met otherwise, form partnerships and come
together as an industry. Speaking on
behalf of Petland company stores, this would have been a different journey
without the Summit experience. It would have been a lot harder to form the invaluable
relationships.
EC: I was
terrified to get up in front of my colleagues in the Animal Industry but after
it was all over, and seeing that many of them support us — some even cried — that
feeling of accomplishment was unforgettable. It was a
lot of fun and I really enjoyed sharing our story. I am so excited to be
presenting again this April. I want our program to be shared across Canada and,
thanks to PetLynx and my peers who voted for us, we will be able to do that!
PetLynx has a great team of people and I just love them all.
IS: What are you planning for your
April 2014 Municipal Collaboration Keynote in Toronto and Halifax?
AP: Our first presentation was about the
concept. Now we want to share the journey… the negatives and positives, the
hard costs and operating challenges. There will be more statistics and it will
be more detailed as to how we got this far and where we are going with it.
IS: What about your own personal Pet
Experiences? We always love to hear what drives people’s individual passion for
pets.
AP: I love animals – obviously! My
passion started as a child. My father’s side of the family bred dogs and we had
dogs, cats and hamsters growing up. I ended up in the pet industry because of
this and secured a part time job at Petland. Fifteen years later I am still
here! To see someone hold an animal for the first time is a great experience.
It brings happiness to me. The human animal bond is amazing. I really believe
that pets make life better!
EC: I have been passionate about animals since I was a
little girl. I took in my first stray cat – Zoey – when I was six-years-old. She
followed me home from school and I begged my parents to let me keep her. I will
never forget that moment when I experienced my first bond with an animal. The
feeling of love that a pet gives you is unexplainable. Since then, I have
always looked out for animals and always helped them. I swear that I had my own
animal shelter growing up! Thank God my parents accepted my love for
animals.
IS: How may our readers contact you?
IS: Thank you so much for sharing your stories with us. You
are doing great work and are to be commended for your efforts.
