InfoStream newsmakers of 2014!

2014 was an exciting year for the urban animal industry. Success and expansion of the Urban Animal program; mergers and acquisitions that changed the face of the services and retail sector; and inspiring stories of innovation 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 page views) from 2014:

The Top Dog Store™ re-invents retail for dogs: Calgary's Robert Church opened the doors to a new store offering a redesigned look at the retail sale of pets. The Top Dog Store™ produces a unique dog-centric experience directed at property homing the animals. Measures include certified and inspected sources of animals; mandatory vet visits, animal warranties and national identification and return-to-owner services; and follow-up services for clients that support behavior and ongoing health. 

Career networking in the Urban Animal Industry: During the Backers Total Pet Expo in September, pet industry veteran Jamie Damato Migdal launched a new online platform to help pet industry professionals find qualified and dedicated employees. FetchFind.com, which is in Beta form, will offer the opportunity for aspiring pet industry professionals to increase expertise through online learning modules as well as locate job opportunities by browsing job postings on the site. 

2014 Social Media Trends: An article on Business 2 Community (B2C) forecast that in 2014, Twitter would surpass Facebook, marketing would transition from monologue to dialogue and that images would outrank content for user engagement. Hashtags were also predicted to become the leading online search tool as every social media channel accepted and encouraged its use. 

Atlantic Innovation Showcase Spotlight Paws Fur Thought - Service dogs for veterans battling PTSD: Since being paired with his service dog, Thai, in 2012, retired Canadian Armed Forces Captain Medric Cousineau has been working to raise awareness and funds to help other veterans achieve success and peace through their own service dog pairings. Cousineau was introduced to the Urban Animal program thorough the Innovation Showcase and received the 2014 Innovator of the Year as well as the 2014 Health and Wellness Summit Awards. 

Mars to buy most of P&G's pet food business for $2.9 billion: In April, Mars, Incorporated and the Procter & Gamble Company announced that Mars agreed to buy the IAMS®, EUKANUBA® and NATURA® brands in major markets for $2.9 billion U.S. This was a strategic move for Mars Petcare to complement its large and growing global Petcare business. 

iAdopt unveiled - An interview with OSPCA's Tanya Firmage: Introduced in 2013 as iAdopt for the Holidays, the campaign was quickly refactored to offer several sub-campaigns throughout the year for various national holidays. This avant-garde campaign shows promise as an industry-wide and international initiative as it caters to all sectors of the industry and is available to everyone. More than 3,000 pets were adopted as part of the 2014 Christmas campaign. iAdopt was featured at the 2014 Regional Conferences as well as the 2014 Summit for Urban Animal Strategies in the Innovation Showcase program. 

An interview with Cheryl Herperger, City of Calgary's Off-Leash Ambassador Program: This pilot program launched in 2013 with ambassadors frequenting two Calgary off-leash parks to help spread educational messages and park etiquette to dog owners and walkers. The program experienced tremendous success and grew to 70 volunteers covering 12 of the city's parks in 2014. The Off-Leash Ambassador program was also featured in the Urban Animal Innovation Showcase. 

InfoStream Guest Author Program welcomes Patricia Cameron: Saskatoon SPCA Executive Director Patricia Cameron joined the Guest Author program in March with her "SWOT" series (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats). Patricia's extensive background in the urban animal industry as well as in creating a sustainable environment have given her a unique perspective to create healthy communities for pets and people. 

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 2015. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

iAdopt Unveiled - An interview with OSPCA's Tanya Firmage

Terri Perrin
InfoStream Staff Writer

Tanya Firmage

In 2013, the Ontario SPCA launched iAdopt, a new year-round, adoption campaign. This avant-garde campaign was nominated as a 2014 Innovation Showcase for the Urban Animal Regional Conferences in April for demonstrating its ability to become an industry-wide and international initiative. Catering to all sectors of the industry, the program is available to everyone and celebrates collaboration and sustainability. 

 Infostream staff writer Terri Perrin spoke with Tanya Firmage, Director of Animal Welfare & Operations at the Ontario SPCA, to learn more about iAdopt.

Infostream (IS): Before we get started, we’d love to know what ‘Pet Experiences’ led you to work in animal welfare.

Tanya Firmage (TF): I honestly believe that I was born with a natural affinity to work with or around animals. Throughout my entire life I have always had a multiple of family pets, each unique in their own special way. A love of animals is something that comes naturally to me and I have been proud to be their ‘voice’ through my work at the Ontario SPCA for the past 23 years.

IS: Animal shelters have been promoting pet adoptions for decades. What makes the iAdopt campaign so unique?

TF: The vision for the campaign resulted from a group of people having a conversation about how we could launch something similar to the annual ‘Home for the Holidays’ program. But we wanted to make it something that could run 12 months of the year. The iAdopt program had its soft launch in the fall of 2013, with iAdopt for the Holidays. It soon developed into something that was not just an adoption drive but also a way to engage people to talk about their pet adoption experiences. It is unique in that it focuses on featuring positive real life pet adoption stories as a means to encourage others to adopt and experience a similar happy ending. This is the first Canadian program that is intended to bring together people who have adopted animals from everywhere in Canada and get them talking. They participate in the campaign by joining social feeds – such as Facebook and Twitter – and start conversations about pet adoptions there. It is heart warming to read their stories. It makes us feel good about what we do.

IS: I understand that iAdopt is increasing pet adoptions not only in OSPCA shelters but across the province. Tell us about that.

TF: During the 2013 iAdopt for the Holidays promotion, OSPCA shelters adopted a total of 1,442 animals, surpassing our goal of 1,250. This reflected a 12.7% increase over the same time period last year. Including affiliated shelters across the province, a total of 1,836 animals were adopted across the province. In February, we ran iAdopt for Love. The spring promo is iAdopt for Spring. We are still compiling those statistics but expect to see similar results.

IS: How do you come up with the campaign themes?

TF: We are developing a series of unique posters and themes that will each run for two months. The people and pets featured in the campaigns are all real life adopters. The featured statements come from these same people. The fact that we bring adopters in to participate is exciting. Our marketing and communications team puts together the promotional materials for the program.

IS: You say you would like to see the program go national. Does that mean that OSPCA is willing to share the PR materials and strategies you’ve worked so hard to develop?

TF: We would love nothing more than to have others get on board with iAdopt. All materials are downloadable at http://www.iAdopt.ca for free. We encourage any pet adoption organization, from small adoption agencies to municipalities to contact us for more information. We also encourage them to ‘Like’ us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter, to keep tabs on iAdopt developments and theme updates.

IS: How is it that this topic was selected to be one of the four Innovation Showcase presentations at the Central Region Summit?

TF: Our program was nominated – not sure by whom – but I am glad they suggested us! I do recall having a conversation early on with Larry Evans, PetLynx Corporation, where I commented that I could see iAdopt being showcased at the Urban Animal Summits. At the time I was really excited and confidant that others were going to be as excited, too!

IS: Tell us about your Urban Animal Conference and Summit experiences. What is the most important thing you take away from these conferences?

TF: I was fortunate enough to be in attendance at the Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver Urban Animal Conferences this year, speaking about our high volume spay/neuter programs and the reduced intake numbers. Stephanie Johns, OSPCA’s Marketing Manager, presented the iAdopt program at the Innovation Showcase in the Central Region (Toronto).  I have been to several Summits in previous years. The extreme sense of collaboration in the room is important. When I think back to my very first Summit experience I recall that I never thought that this level of relationship building would ever be possible.

IS: What do you hope to achieve by being an Innovation Showcase presenter at the national Summit in October?

TF: Tonya Martin, our Senior Manager of Animal Welfare and Operations, will present on iAdopt at the 2014 Summit. We look forward to telling more people about the campaign, having them join in our excitement and get involved. We’ll have some phenomenal information to update following the first full year of the program. I am sure the Summit experience will, once again, be very valuable to the OSPCA and anybody in the urban animal community

http://www.iadopt.ca/

Originality, dedication and commitment were evident in all 20 of the Innovation Showcase presentations featured at the four Urban Animal Conferences presented across Canada in April 2014. While all were deserving of the opportunity to present at the upcoming 2014 Summit for Urban Animal Strategies in Lake Louise in October, only two from each region were selected.

Central Conference Highlights

The 2014 Urban Animal Regional Conference tour kicked off today in Toronto, Ontario. More than 40 thought leaders and urban animal service providers gathered to network, discover local and national innovation and participate in relevant and crucial industry conversations. 

Following the Innovation Showcases, Conference delegates nominated Ontario SPCA's iAdopt (Stephanie Johns) and the Shelter Medicine program partnership between Ontario SPCA and Boreal College (Tanya Firmage) to present to present at a national level at the 2014 Summit for Urban Animal Strategies in October. 

Dr. Drew Van Niekerk and Kijiji's Shawn McIntyre presented keynotes illuminating pet sourcing and the barrier it can create in a positive pet experience. Conference delegates were then separated into groups to discuss the importance of sourcing, identify the barriers and propose opportunities. The following bullet points were selected from the event's LIVE TWITTER FEED: 

• A bad pet experience can happen regardless of the source. When different pet sectors blame another for a pet owner's bad experience, we are missing an opportunity to educate with a consistent message. 
• Educate the pet owner based on the decisions they've already made rather than judging them and telling them they've made the wrong decision. 
• Impact of inconsistent industry messaging: confusion, misinformation, relinquishment, potential for adversity within industry
• Current message is confusing and inconsistent. Based on opinions and protection of our own business. 

Stay tuned to InfoStream for highlights from the Atlantic Conference on Thursday, 24 April. 

2014 Central Innovation Showcases Revealed!

On Tuesday, April 22nd, the Canada wide 2014 Urban Animal Regional Conference tour will launch. 

Members from all levels and sectors of the Urban Animal Industry will gather together in Toronto, Halifax, Calgary and Vancouver for the 8th annual edition of these regional events.

The 2014 Regional Conferences are a strategic component of Urban Animal™ programs in North America. They feature the Pet Experience Workshops led by Dr. Jason Coe, Innovation Keynotes providing tools for replication and a strong cast of local presenters showcasing innovative projects from across North America. 

Today, the first of four InfoStream posts will reveal the 2014 Innovation Showcase lineup. Central Region Showcases: 

Municipal TNR – Esther Attard (Toronto Animal Services)

Imagine: a municipality turning its focus to TNR instead of euthanizing to better serve the feral cat population and the community as a whole.

iAdopt – Stephanie Johns (OSPCA)

Imagine: a year-round adoption campaign available to organizations from all industry sectors at a global level.

LifeLearnX – Adam Little

Imagine: a bold new initiative challenging animal health by accelerating technology through entrepreneurship.

Animal's Voice Pawdcasts - Kevin MacKenzie & Katie Leonard (OSPCA)

Imagine: an Internet channel that features the country’s leading experts, volunteers and information about the Pet Experience.

Shelter Medicine at Boreal College – Tanya Firmage (OSPCA)

Imagine: a partnership between a leading Canadian college and a humane society resulting in the first ever shelter medicine program.

To register for a Conference in your region, CLICK HERE. 

If you have not received an affiliate voucher code (valued at $100 towards Conference Subscription), please contact Lisa Milton at 403-809-4630 or Shannon Woodward at 403-208-1972. 

iAdopt surpasses 1,800 adoptions

The Ontario SPCA's first iAdopt for the Holidays campaign saw a total of 1,836 animals adopted between OSPCA branches and affiliate communities. With a 1,280 adoption goal, this inaugural year is considered a great success by organizers. 

"The iAdopt campaign was a success!" said Alison Cross, director of marketing and communications at OSPCA. 

iAdopt will continue throughout the year with sub-campaigns around several holidays. 

READ THE OSPCA BLOG

iAdopt surpasses 1,500 adoptions

With 10 days remaining in the OSPCA's iAdopt for the Holidays adoption drive, the campaign has surpassed its goal of 1,280 and crossed the 1,500 line!

More than a dozen Ontario shelters are participating in the campaign's inaugural year. In an OSPCA Animal's Voice podcast interview, senior manager of Animal Welfare and Operations, Tonya Martin, said that while the campaign is heavily weighted with Ontario SPCA branches, she hopes it will become a cross-canada movement in years to come.  

iAdopt will likely be refactored to offer several sub-campaigns throughout the year for various national holidays (i.e. Valentines Day, Easter, Thanksgiving, etc.). This avant-garde campaign shows promise as an industry-wide and international initiative. Catering to all sectors of the industry including retail; care & control; humane & rescue; and health & wellness, the program is available to everyone and celebrates collaboration and sustainability. 

Shelters interested in participating in future campaigns are urged to contact Amanda McKibbon, Manager of Animal Welfare and Operations at OSPCA.