InfoStream Newsmakers of 2013

2013 was an exciting year for the urban animal industry. A refactoring of the Urban Animal Program; the introduction of the Pet Experience Project; industry insight to the power of social media; and countless stories of success from across the nation all played a part in collective achievements celebrated by Urban Animal associates this past year. 

Here are a few InfoStream highlights (in order of top pageviews) from 2013:  

Tiny's Weight Loss Challenge at Atlantic Regional Conference: The story of Tiny, an overweight cat left on the steps of the Fredricton SPCA made global news headlines as the FSPCA team launched a social media campaign based around the cat's weight loss program. With nearly 6,000 Facebook 'Likes' and Tiny headlines on CNN, CTV, People Magazine and more, the FSPCA discovered a way to capitalize on the campaign and succeeded in raising thousands of dollars for special needs animals though the Tiny's Weight Loss Challenge Medical Fund. 

Interview with Randy Valpy: Twenty thirteen was a busy year for Randy Valpy as he launched Canada's newest entry to the pet insurance market, Pets Plus Us. Randy's dedication to the Urban Animal industry and his commitment to creating healthy pet communities resulted in a successful inaugural year for Pets Plus Us. Randy was also recognized by the Urban Animal Program for his efforts with a 2013 Summit Award for Individual Achievement. 

Planet Paws Pet Essentials recognized as leading retailer: Planet Paws co-owner Rodney Habib recognized an opportunity to connect with pet families on a personal level as well as a professional one. His Nova Scotia pet supply shop has received awards for its quality products and professional staff but Rodney's ability to build trust and relationships with pet owners through his Pet Nutrition Blog has allowed the company to reach a new and much larger audience. 

2013 Regional Conferences: The Regional Conferences were refactored in 2013. The improved program was designed to capture stories, successes and barriers where the rubber hits the road. The launch of the Regional Innovation Showcases and the restructuring of the Summit Award nomination process to begin at the regional level helped develop a widely successful 2013 Summit for Urban Animal Strategies and allowed Urban Animal associates at the local level an opportunity to network and become involved in the Program. 

Dog Dazed: Dog Dazed was instrumental in developing Pet Experience Project conversations in 2013. This CBC documentary gathered insight from both pet owners and non-pet owners and created an unbiased and neutral narrative revealing the social and environmental impact of our four-legged companions. 

PetLynx adds financial resources: In October 2013, PetLynx Corporation welcomed Dr. Drew Van Niekerk to a leading role in the management of the company. Since 2001, PetLynx has met each new challenge with understanding, agility, tenacity and a commitment to PetLynx Core Values. The expansion of management and addition of capital will allow PetLynx to continue bringing value to large brands while lowering PetLynx acquisition costs, delivering the largest share of the identification/recovery market in Canada (with plans for global emergence) and driving positive cash from operations.

Free recovery for YYC pets: The 2013 Alberta Flood displaced thousands of people and hundreds of pets. Recognizing the need for a global recovery system and central database, partners of the Urban Animal program and PetLynx offered free recovery services to pets and families affected by the floods. Weeks later, the same was offered to pets affected by the Lac Megantic train disaster.  

Summit Award winners: The 2013 Summit Awards program was the most successful to date. Winners of the Summits included individuals, agencies and organizations from all sectors of the Urban Animal Industry. With 56 nominees in 12 categories, 1,642 eligible voters and just under 700 ballots cast in the process, this year's program signified the most involvement ever from urban animal subscribers.

Thank you to everyone who made this a successful year. Your collaborative efforts, forward thinking and commitment to the industry will undoubtedly lead to an even more successful 2014.

Happy New Year!  

PetLand Charities donates $7,500 to Calgary dog park

PetLand Charities of Canada presented the City of Calgary with a cheque for more than $7,500 for the restoration of the Sue Higgins Park which was (and still is) affected by the Calgary Floods. 

In store fundraisers, donations and volunteer clean-ups have contributed to the park's clean up. Parts of the park are still closed and a planned Improvement Project was delayed after the floods last June. 

Sue Higgins Park is a 62-hectare greenspace in Calgary's southeast that offers pathways, hiking trails, a large off-leash area and much more. The mission of the Improvement Project is to enhance the park's natural environment and provide quality and compatible recreational activities by addressing the interests of the key park user groups, including off-leash, regional pathway users and nature enthusiasts. 

This project complies with the City's goals of integrating recreational areas with pet-friendly areas, an initiative presented to Urban Animal subscribers at the Prairie Regional Conference and the Summit for Urban Animal Strategies. 

VIEW THE PRESENTATION

Petland Charities pitches in to clean up Sue Higgins dog park

Petland Charities and the City of Calgary are partnering to mobilize a clean-up effort of Sue Higgins Dog Park which was affected by flooding in Calgary in June.

Park clean-up is scheduled for Tuesday, August 20 when pre-registered volunteers will assist in cleaning up debris, repairing fences and bringing the popular park back to Calgarian dog owners. Over 90 per cent of the fences in the park were damaged and roughly 70 per cent were destroyed. Presently, only portions of the park have reopened to the public. 

Justin Brown, superintendent of parks for the City of Calgary, told the Calgary Herald the park was significantly damaged by the flood waters. 

"The entire park was actually under water during high water mark,"he said. "We'll be down here all year, that's for sure."  

In conjunction with the volunteer clean-up, Petland stores in Calgary also hosted an in-store fundraising campaign earlier this month. A sticker campaign and Greenies (Mars PetCare) brand donations raised funds for Petland Charities which provided money to help clean up the dog park. 

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What if: We didn't have to worry about pets in a disaster?

Major events which rocked the foundation of two Canadian communities prompted PetLynx Corporation to offer free lifetime recovery subscriptions to people affected during the Alberta floods and the Lac Megantic train disaster.

At the time, PetLynx President and CEO Larry Evans engaged the urban animal community in a conversation confirming the importance of a central database with 100% of pets registered. A central portal, accessible by everyone, with a proven search algorithm would ensure that lost and founds pets involved in a disaster would be easily reported and the likelihood of a recovery episode would increase substantially. Additionally, if all pets were registered with up-to-date information, disaster evacuees could take solace knowing their pet's information and whereabouts were available to authorized personnel. 

Melissa Hunt, associate director of Clinical Training in the Department of Psycology at the University of Pennsylvania studied the psychological effects of losing a pet on people affected by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. 

"Historically, pet ownership has been the single greatest risk factor for evacuation failure," Hunt told Global News. As human shelters often refuse to take pets, not being able to safely evacuate with an animal poses a problem. 

Hurricane Katrina prompted the creation of the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act by the U.S. government in 2006. The Act ensures that State and local emergency preparedness plans address the needs of individuals with household pets and service animals following a major disaster or emergency. 

Dealing with pets in a disaster is on the minds of many North American municipalities. The rate at which fires, floods, tornadoes and hurricanes seems to be increasing. Disaster preparedness requires a new level of thinking and collaboration in North America.  Perhaps executive thought leaders will take up this discussion and develop a new strategy during the Friday Forums at the 2013 Summit for Urban Animal Strategies, October 16-19. Imagine an industry that sorted this all out so that the anxiety which often accompanies separation was no longer a dilemma of an urban disaster.

Leaders who wish to add their voice to this and other key industry conversations, are invited to join the Urban Animal Program LinkedIn Group and also to REGISTER for Summit 2013. Get the facts, Have yourSAY™, Move the industry.

RSA Canada reports strong growth at half year

Royal Sun Alliance (Pets Plus Us) reported another strong financial result with 15% growth in net written premiums to $1,360 million compared to $1,181 million in the first half of 2012.  

Commercial lines premiums were up 14% to $468 million with all lines of business contributing. Excluding the acquisition of UC, the Commercial portfolio grew 5% with particularly strong results within Global Specialty Lines. 

Personal lines premiums, including Johnson Inc. were up 16% to $892 million, driven by the benefits of the acquisition of UC. Growth was 5% excluding UC, with a strong contribution from the Broker business, particularly in British Columbia and improved retention across the book. 

The underwriting result of $23 million was inevitably impacted by severe weather, namely late June's flooding in Southern Alberta, which is exected to be one of the largest natural catastrophes in Canadian history. Gross claims in respect of this event are above reinsurance retentions, leading to a maximum net loss of $75 million. As a result, the COR was 98.7%. Excluding the impact of the Alberta floods, the COR was 93.3%. 

READ THE NEWS RELEASE

Social Media's role in Alberta Floods

As the water levels rose in Calgary, social media became a beacon for people looking to understand what was happening, receive information and support those affected. As in other recent disasters, hashtags began to appear which unified otherwise unique tweets and spoke to the social camaraderie shared around the world. 

According to a report compiled by MarketWired, the three top used Twitter hashtags used during the Alberta Floods from June 20-30, 2013 were: 

• #YYCFlood (342,322)
• #ABFlood (209,266)
• #YYCHelps (311,119)

The City of Calgary, 660 News and Calgary Police Service were the most active posters on Twitter with unique tweets using an above hashtag and overall, Flood related hashtags were featured in tweets 32 times every minute. 

Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi worked tirelessly during the disaster to keep Calgarians safe and informed. As a result, his Twitter account grew more than 28,000 followers during the 10-day period with unique hashtags such as #Nap4Nenshi and #NenshiNoun popping up on thousands of Tweets.   

Petland Canada responds to Alberta Floods

Petland Charities announced last week it would match cash donations to the Calgary Interfaith Food Bank up to $5,000 as well as contribute one pail of Here Kitty Litter for each one donated. 

Yesterday, Petland reported raising $6,520 in cash donations. Including Petland's match commitment, the total raised for the Calgary food bank is $11,520. In addition, Nutro donated 1,163 bags of food, Nutrience donated 338 bags of food, Bollea Logistics donated their time, a truck and a  pallet of water. 

Petland will continue collecting donations until July 8. 

Thanks to Amy Pawson, Calgary, Alberta, Canada for passing this clip along. If you find something the industry needs to see pass it to contactus@urbananimal.com

Wet paws, warm hearts

The Pacific Assistance Dog Society (PADS) took to Calgary's streets yesterday to help people affected by the floods, emergency workers and volunteers de-stress and and to offer comfort to Calgarians digging out of the devastation. 

According to the PADS Facebook account, "Calgary citizens are putting their hearts and souls into cleaning up the city, and at this point some of them need some puppy TLC to de-stress. Cedar, Cajun, Sheriff and Roma have already put their paws up to volunteer."

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