Rescue Dogs and Other Dilemmas - UA Forums at Summit 2015

The 2015 Urban Animal Forums on Friday are an integral element of the tenth annual Summit for Urban Animal Strategies. Forums are intended to identify, research and recast dilemmas as opportunities to enrich the lives of people and pets in urban communities.

Leaders at Summit 2015 will be Dared to Disagree. The forums of Summit 2015 invite subject matter experts who will lead the attack on five previously identified dilemmas:

Service and Assistance Dogs (2015.A):

Anecdotal evidence suggests dogs can enrich the lives of people yet many initiatives are bogged down without an evidence base or accepted standards. Communities, airlines, school boards, penal institutions, service industries and breeders need industry help to recast this dilemma so more lives are enriched using companion animals.

Municipal Compliance and Ambassador Programs (2015.B):

Conflicts within the community arise between pet owners and other citizens who wish to use the same public areas. Across North America the rate of compliance associated with licensing and identification of pets is falling. The incidence of disruptive behaviors and aggression in dogs is rising. How can municipal bylaws ensure a safe environment for all? Can new approaches to licensing bylaws and enforcement succeed? The City of Calgary has obtained positive results using off leash 'Ambassadors'. Can the 'Calgary approach' be replicated to assist with other interventions? What kind of training is required? Can municipal budgets be redirected, reduced or eliminated? Do 'Ambassadors' enrich the lives of people and pets in urban municipalities?

Rescue dogs (Forum 2015.C):

Dogs are entering Urban Communities from around the globe and from other jurisdictions (breed specific legislation). As rescue dogs become more prevalent in the adoption environment from myriad sources, issues in the areas of health and socialization have emerged. How can health regulations be enforced? Who should be assessing dogs to ensure they contribute to a safe environment for people and animals? Is there a way to recast this dilemma as an opportunity to enrich communities or should these imports be shut down?

Compassion Fatigue (Forum 2015.D):

From volunteers to veterinarians, literature shows the Urban Animal industry is experiencing ‘care/compassion fatigue’ sometimes with deadly consequences. Does imperial evidence exist to define the magnitude of the problem and the possible solutions? Can a strategy be developed that solves this dilemma across an entire industry? Can the urban animal industry build emotional intelligence and resilience for human resources that eliminates critical interventions and removes this blight from professional careers?

Free-Roaming Cats (Forum 2015.E):

A new evidence based metric that determines feline populations in urban communities is coming forward from the 2015 Urban Animal IRED program. While cats have attracted passion and funding for at least 10 years, communities continue to battle issues associated with free roaming cats. Measuring the number and habits of free roaming felines now seems to be in reach. Are there new ways to recast a dilemma that has resisted mitigation efforts for several decades? Is everyone in the conversation that should be (public health, animal welfare, environmental)? Is it possible to have a respectful but rigorous debate that establishes a new path forward?

Open Space (Forum 2015.OS):

The Summit continues to gather subject matter experts who identify and recast dilemmas to enrich the lives of people and pets. The Open Space forum provides an opportunity for delegates to bring forward new dilemmas or initiatives that merit the attention of the Alliance for Urban Animals.

All Urban Animal Forums are facilitated using the Open Space Technology invented by Harrison Owen.

Summit delegate seats are filled by invitation and usually managed to 100 delegates for each Summit. However, for this tenth anniversary Summit a small number of additional seats have been added. If you or someone you know should contribute to these forums please contact Shannon Woodward.

If you have an invitation please register now!

Your guide to the 2014 Summit for Urban Animal Strategies

Summit 2014 is two weeks away. A revised Summit Agenda has been posted at http://media.wix.com/ugd/a3c0e3_f6dc42a1f0584fe483829c46bc01130e.pdf

You will find more information about Summit presenters on InfoStream:

Sourcing/Breeding Standards: Purdue University/CAWS

http://petlynxinfostream.blogspot.ca/2014/10/facts-and-evidence-why-we-need-science.html

Industry Trends and Opportunities: Euromonitor/Chicago

http://petlynxinfostream.blogspot.ca/2014/10/facts-and-evidence-euromonitor-retail.html

Pet Experience Project/Obstacles Survey: PIJAC Canada/Ottawa

http://petlynxinfostream.blogspot.ca/2014/10/facts-and-evidence-obstacles-to.html

Innovation Keynote: Trifaux/HeadStart Marketing

http://petlynxinfostream.blogspot.ca/2014/10/trifaux-to-deliver-2014-innovation.html

We are also blessed to have a provocative industry thinker to provide the Leaders Keynote on Saturday morning.

Leaders Keynote: Chan/Zoetis

http://petlynxinfostream.blogspot.ca/2014/10/dr-melodie-chan-to-deliver-2014-leaders.html

Summit 2014 is a must attend event, if you wish to contribute to the breeding standards conversation, increase your understanding of pet owners and the pet experience or if you need to know how future trends in the Urban Animal industry are likely to affect you. Delegate seats may still be available. Please contact Shannon Woodward if you require assistance with registration.

The ninth annual Summit for Urban Animal Strategies, will also feature a challenging Urban Animal Forum™ on Friday, 24 October, 2014. In addition, to dilemmas proposed during the Summit are these conversations already underway:

• Certification and Quality Management for breeders (sources of kittens/puppies)
• Voluntary compliance/self regulation for the industry
• Redesigning organizations for the experience economy/social media
• Administrative Monetary Penalties as an alternative to fines (justice system)
• Lifetime licensing for animals in urban municipalities
• Banning retail pet sales - do bans eliminate or exacerbate sourcing issues
• Pet experience project - defining research to obtain evidence still needed
• Implications of pets for the delivery of public health and social programs
• Pets enhance communities but has urban planning got pets on the radar
• Improving animal care - can prepaid wellness lower costs
• Non-surgical sterilization as an intervention in feral and domestic populations
  

  
  

Summit Conversations: The Key to Designing Exceptional Customer Experiences

Patricia Cameron 
InfoStream Guest Author 

The quality of experience your customers have with your business has a huge impact on whether it thrives, scrapes by, or fails. If a person has a confusing, frustrating, or really bad experience when frequenting your business, there is a very good chance they will never come back.  In today’s connected world, there is also a good chance they will share their negative experience not only with the 11 people they traditionally shared complaints with, but with hundreds, thousands, or even millions of other people.  Ask United Airlines. 

So whether your business is an animal shelter, a veterinary office, a pet supply store, a pet insurance provider, or animal boarding facility, or a groomer, you can start today to design a customer experience that is clear and understandable, convenient, helpful, honest, high quality, and even fun.   The key to successfully designed customer experiences is a rare and precious resource — the resource of empathy. 

Often confused with sympathy or compassion, empathy is defined in a variety of ways, but basically, empathy is “understanding of another’s situation, feelings, and motives.”  Developing and growing organizational empathy is key to delighting customers, and delighting customers is key to a successful business. 

Every day, lack of corporate empathy creates huge numbers of dissatisfied customers. Below are a few examples of experiences designed WITHOUT empathy — that is without “understanding [your customer’s] situation, feelings, and motives.”

1.  Talking AT people (about yourself).  Many corporate brochures and websites start something like this:  “Founded in 1986, RuffnReady Pets has sold more than 2.5 million pet beds. Our factory is gleaming and modern, and our designers are educated in the latest computer-assisted design processes.”  RuffnReady (fictional) focuses on itself — its history, its sales, its  factory, its designers.  Customers are focused on their own needs (like getting a great bed for their pet) and you should be too. 

2.  Processes that put up barriers to satisfying a customer’s needs and desires.  Many people come to animal shelters hoping to adopt, and excited to help both homeless animals and the organization.  After more than an hour of paper work and what feels to them like interrogation, many go away with hearts and minds filled with confusion, hurt, and anger, rather than arms filled with a new furry friend.  Empathy would help shelters avoid this unfortunate ending.  For example, people are generally eager if not impatient to directly connect with animals, so let them.  Finding out hands-on they have no control of a dog will be more persuasive than engaging them in an argument about whether they have the experience and skill to work with a rambunctious pup. After such a lesson, being directed to animals more suited to their homes will be experienced as helpful rather than interfering or controlling.  

3.  Communication that isn’t. You get a new purchase home hoping to put it to good use, only to be frustrated by the “instructions.”  Since so many products are now made overseas, the use of diagrams rather than text has become commonplace.  Often these diagrams are rudimentary and unhelpful because they were designed on the cheap with little or no concern for the customer’s needs.  If your company sells a product with such horrible instructions, they have a bad experience not with the manufacturer but with YOU. Check for these sorts of problems and provide customers with support — “Hey, the instructions are not great.  Here is an example we assembled.”  Or, “The first few times you use this product can be tricky. Here is our card; give us a call if you have any difficulty.”  

4.  Lying.   There are many examples of companies lying.  Lying really annoys some people who then go on social media and tell everyone about it.   Ask Kashi. Here’s a personal example.   As a consumer interested in personal and environmental health, I choose not to support Genetically Modified (GMO) foods and unless specifically labelled organic, canola is all GMO.  I was looking for a canola-free, Non-GMO mayonnaise at my local grocery store. After much searching, I was excited to see Hellman’s had a mayonnaise boldly labelled “With Olive Oil.” As Yogi Berra memorably said, “You can see a lot just by looking.”  With that in mind, I looked at the label.  The first ingredient was canola oil; olive oil was way down the list.  Now the people at Hellman’s are no dummies — they know the label “With Olive Oil” will be a beacon to consumers seeking Non-GMO mayonnaise — they just lack empathy. If they had empathy, they would know that being lied to results in bad feelings and motivates people to never buy their products again. 

Having empathy, that is truly understanding the people you hope to attract and retain as customers, is a simple path to designing amazing, satisfying, high-trust, loyalty-building customer experiences.  Simple, but not easy.  You will have to talk WITH customers not TO them.  You will need to stop focusing on your needs, your interests, and your agenda.  You will have to let their agenda dictate how, when, where, and what services and products you deliver.  You will have to take the time to really look and to observe how people interact with your organization and its products.    And finally, you will have to be honest and authentic.  

The ninth annual Summit for Urban Animal Strategies is days away. Throughout the year, leaders in the industry have identified dilemmas and developed conversations to recast dilemmas into opportunities. 

The 2014 Urban Animal Forum™ on Friday, October 24th, develops industry conversations into strategies and tactics. InfoStream articles by recognized industry experts, are presented to prepare delegates for this activity.

Get the facts, have YourSAY, move the industry.

Preventative veterinary care not hitting home with pet owners

According to a whitepaper recently released by Partners for Healthy Pets, the veterinary profession is putting more emphasis on preventative healthcare for pets, but the frequency of veterinary visits has not increased.

Data presented by Karen Felsted at the 2012 Summit for Urban Animal Strategies shows this trend is especially true for cats. The Partners for Healthy Pets paper, Reversing the Decline in Veterinary Care Utilization: Progress Made, Challenges Remain, claims that while veterinary professionals are getting the message about preventative care, it seems to be lost on pet owners.

READ MORE: Reversing the Decline in Veterinary Care Utilization: Progress Made, Challenges Remain

Executive Directors of both the American Animal Hospital Association and the American Veterinary Medical Association found the results disappointing but remained optimistic.

"The fact that preventative care has gained traction among practicing veterinarians - and, more important, among veterinary educators - bodes well for the future," said Michael Cavanaugh, CEO of AAHA.

A survey of pet owners conducted by Urban Animal™ earlier this year determined that Cost of Medical care factor in the pet experience. Many pet owners have become increasingly concerned about some aspects of veterinary care, including the need for regular exams, the cost of care, and the stress and inconvenience of the exam experience.

READ MORE: Cost of medical care identified as biggest obstacle to a positive pet experience

Despite this trend, Partners for Healthy Pets believes veterinarians can thrive in today's economy and market for services. "But individual practices must meet challenges identified in the veterinary care usage studies in order to achieve their full potential."  

READ MORE: Partners for Healthy Pets reports elicit concern, optimism over preventative care statistics 

Summit 2014 Forum Attacks Industry Dilemmas

The Urban Animal industry has many dilemmas, however, 100 of the best and brightest minds in the Urban Animal industry are gearing up to tackle them.

The ninth annual Summit for Urban Animal Strategies, will feature a challenging Urban Animal Forum™ on Friday, 24 October, 2014. In addition, to dilemmas proposed during the Summit are these conversations already underway:

• Certification and Quality Management for breeders (sources of kittens/puppies)
• Voluntary compliance/self regulation for the industry
• Redesigning organizations for the experience economy/social media
• Administrative Monetary Penalties as an alternative to fines (justice system)
• Lifetime licensing for animals in urban municipalities
• Banning retail pet sales - do bans eliminate or exacerbate sourcing issues
• Pet experience project - defining research to obtain evidence still needed
• Implications of pets for the delivery of public health and social programs
• Pets enhance communities but has urban planning got pets on the radar
• Improving animal care - can prepaid wellness lower costs
• Non-surgical sterilization as an intervention in feral and domestic populations

If you can lead or contribute to one of these conversations please contact

Shannon Woodward or Larry Evans

The Urban Animal Forum™ produces one of four outcomes for each dilemma addressed:

• Strategic/tactical recommendations to a national organization or agency – recognizes the issue is sector specific or requires consensus building by someone with presence, jurisdiction and/or subject matter authority.
• Referred to the Urban Animal Foundation to gather additional evidence – recognizes the conversation does not yet have sufficient data to support innovation.
• Referred to a Centre of Excellence (ad hoc group or community) who with support from the Urban Animal Foundation beta tests strategies or tactics most likely to succeed – recognizes innovation is within reach but still requires passionate people and a laboratory to develop/demonstrate/test an implementation plan.
• Offered as a candidate for the next ‘National Initiative’ of the Urban Animal program – delegates use rounds of automated voting at the Urban Animal Forum™ to select an initiative that has the support of the entire industry.

 

Get the facts, Have YourSAY™, Move the Industry

REGISTER for Summit 2014

Exploring the Non-Surgical Sterilization conversation

Canadian wellness company Avivagen announced earlier this month it has entered into a one-year option to purchase an exclusive license for a permanent non-surgical pet sterilization technology from Dr. Duncan Hockley, director of the Veterinary Medical Centre of the University of Saskatchewan.

READ MORE: Avivagen Non-Surgical Sterilization

The invention is a novel and drug-based means of accomplishing this longstanding veterinary goal and could prove effective for urban animal sterilization and control of feral and wild animal populations. 

READ MORE: Avivagen Options Technology for Permanent and Non-Surgical Sterilization of Female Mammals

Animal overpopulation concerns in communities around the world are a regular topic at Urban Animal events as program delegates strive to find a humane, efficient, cost-effective and sustainable solution. 

If Avivagen's option is exercised, what timeline will follow with regard to traditional spay/neuter practices? How will non-surgical sterilization affect current spay/neuter programs? How will this method be funded and implemented on feral and stray populations? 

READ MORE: InfoStream - Non-Surgical Sterilization

As the 2014 Summit for Urban Animal Strategies draws near, stakeholders will undoubtedly be considering the opportunities and dilemmas arising from non-surgical sterilization procedures. Participants in the Urban Animal Forums on Friday (October 24, 2014) will be given the opportunity to join this conversation and other relevant and important conversations. 

REGISTER NOW to join the conversations! 

Avivagen Inc. is dedicated to developing science-based, natural health products for animals that are proven in clinical trials and offering veterinarians real alternatives to traditional treatments.

In consideration of the grant of the option on the technology, Avivagen has agreed to pay all application, maintenance and prosecution fees. Avivagen is also bearing the costs of proof-of-concept animal studies. 

Get the facts, have YourSAY, move the industry.