PetLynx celebrates 1 million milestone

PRESS RELEASE

PetLynx registers ONE MILLION pets!

Calgary, AB - In late August 28, 2014, PetLynx Corporation reached a significant milestone in the emergence of its production database by registering the millionth animal in its automated pet recovery service.

Zsuzsanna Hollander of Vancouver, B.C., recently adopted Cocoa from the BC SPCA and quickly registered him with PetLynx.net to ensure all of the dog’s identification, medical records and other information was available to authorized service providers in a central database. What Hollander didn’t know when she registered her little brown dog was that Cocoa was the millionth pet registered on PetLynx.

“I know the PetLynx team and vision will succeed in its mission to contribute lifetime protection for pets and peace of mind for their owners in the communities we serve,” said PetLynx President Dr. Drew Van Niekerk.

PetLynx is the only information utility that allows pet owners to own and control the animal record where they store important information about their companion. PetLynx is Canada’s most recognizable pet services brand. The PetLynx automated recovery system serves more than 340 urban municipalities across the country. Every month, PetLynx celebrates serves 30,000 logged in visits and more than 2,000 Return-to-Owner (recovery) episodes. Since it came into service, PetLynx has been involved in more than 309,000 recovery episodes.

“Registering a million pets in Canada, is an important milestone. Having 10% of the cats and dogs in Canada registered in one automated data base moves the bar for an industry that previously relied upon small independent data islands,” said Larry Evans, Director of Business Development for PetLynx. “This milestone reflects the large investment for the wellbeing of pets in our society by the Alliance for Urban Animals. Striving to add all Canadian pets into the PetLynx automate recovery service now makes sense for pet owners, humane societies, pounds, rescues and breeders”.

To celebrate this milestone, Canadian members of the Alliance for Urban Animals have awarded Zsuzsanna and Cocoa with a recognition package that includes medical insurance from Pets Plus Us, a Gift Card from Tisol Nutrition and Supplies, a recognition package from Kijiji and free Lifetime Recovery Subscriptions for 10 of Cocoa’s friends.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:

Shannon Woodward, Communications Coordinator

(p) 403.208.1972 (e) Shannon.woodward@petlynxmail.com

ABOUT PETLYNX:

PetLynx Corporation is a distributing Alberta corporation and non-reporting issuer. PetLynx owns a world class information utility that presently serves urban animals in Canada. PetLynx has invested over $7 million to develop a cloud based, animal record that uses smart devices and the internet to connect all stakeholders of the urban animal industry.

The PetLynx utility is a proven game changer that has already registered 10% of Canadian cats and dogs as well as the active consumers who own them. In addition to pet owners, PetLynx serves the public as well as shelters, pounds, breeders, retailers, veterinarians and service providers in more than 340 Canadian communities. This PetLynx achievement arose from being the first to exploit 'cloud technology' and smart devices to deliver automated return-to-owner services for pet families. Today, PetLynx is the largest, fastest growing and most recognizable pet service brand in Canada.

PetLynx.......Lifelong protection for pets and peace of mind for people.

ABOUT THE ALLIANCE FOR URBAN ANIMALS:

Members of the Alliance for Urban Animals now number 1,700+ across North America. In addition, PetLynx media channels touch 40,000+ industry service providers, 985,000+ pet owning consumers and 9,000,000+ professionals involved in the Urban Animal Industry.

Thought leaders arise from this broad field of connectivity in every sector of the community - Animal Health, Public Health, Animal Licensing and Control, Humane and Rescue, Retail, Commerce, Logistics, Pet Owner Services, Recreation and Community Services. These individuals and organizations work together in the Alliance for Urban Animals to promote healthy communities for both pets and people.

PetLynx registers 1 MILLION PETS!

Anna MacNeil-Allcock 
InfoStream Guest Author

The little dog from Prince Rupert, B.C. is HomeSafe (or one of a million) 

Wandering alone and homeless on the outskirts of Prince Rupert, B.C., the little brown dog was not aware of how his life was about to change for the better.  The BC SPCA gathered him up and began the routine search for some type of identification. He had no tag, no tattoo, and when they got him back to the shelter, the microchip scanner found nothing. Little did they know that this little brown dog would be a milestone in the world of pet identification.

Meanwhile in Vancouver, a professional couple were finally ready to bring a dog into their lives. Using the BC SPCA website, Zsuzsanna Hollander was able to learn about all of the dogs for adoption in B.C.

She fell in love with the little brown dog in Prince Rupert and she booked a flight to meet him face-to-face.  When asked, ‘what is the rush?’ She replied, ‘he is looking for a family and we are looking for a dog, why wait?’

The BC SPCA found Zsuzsanna to be a perfect match for the little dog but stressed that identification is a priority for him since he had already been lost once in his young life.  

As Zsuzsanna stepped off the plane with the newly named Cocoa, she was stepping into the world of pet ownership.

Keeping him safe and sound required some preventative steps. For example,

A plethora of information is involved in keeping Cocoa safe and sound.

First he had numerous identification numbers attached to him, such as a license number registered with the city, a tattoo number registered with the veterinary clinic and a microchip number registered with the microchipping company.

Second, his veterinarian numbers and medical information need to be easily accessible by all his care providers like the doggie daycare, pet sitter, or dog walking service to keep him safe in an emergency.

With all this in mind Zsuzsanna opted to register Cocoa with PetLynx.Net, a database system that holds all his information securely and helps search for him if he were ever lost. Little did she know that Cocoa was the One Millionth pet to be registered with PetLynx.Net 

Cocoa’s PetLynx Profile includes all of his identification information (license number, tattoo and microchip number, photograph and written description of unique physical characteristics) as well as the contact numbers for his service providers (Veterinarian, Dog Walker, Dog Sitter and Doggie Daycare and pertinent medical information (allergies, medications, or conditions).

“This is an important milestone that reflects the growth of a mindful pet owning society," said Veterinarian Drew VanNiekirk, president of PetLynx.

Cocoa wears a little green tag on his collar with the PetLynx website and his PetLynx ID Number. If he is separated from Zsuzsanna, whomever finds him can fill in a ‘Found Report’ on the site, and Zsuzsanna will automatically receive an email.

Until he is found, the PetLynx system will automatically search for reports of dogs with similar geographical and physical details. The automated HomeSafe system sees more than 2000 pets returned to owner every month. In total, 300,000.

If Cocoa were to lose his collar and tag, the system will still acknowledge and highlight any Found Reports matching the physical description and location where he was last seen.

"This milestone deserves a celebration," said Larry Evans, business director of PetLynx. "It reflects positive changes in the status of pets in our society. With more than one million pets in the system, it makes sense for humane societies to check PetLynx when they find stray animals." 

To celebrate, Zsuzsanna and Cocoa will be presented with a number of gifts from Canadian members of the Alliance for Urban Animals; PetLynx, Pets Plus Us pet insurance, Tisol gift certificate, and Kijiji. 

PetLynx... Lifelong protection for pets, peace of mind for people

City of Calgary launches new licensing website

This week, Calgary Animal & Bylaw Services launched a new pet licensing website to improve service to Calgarians. 

Once testing of the site is completed in the Spring of 2015, developers will have the ability to add features such as Interac payment, automatic withdrawls and renewals. 

Check out the new site at https://petlicence.calgary.ca/

PetLynx Utility reaches 1 million milestone

PetLynx Corporation is pleased to announce that it has achieved a significant milestone in the emergence of its production database by registering the 1 millionth animal in its automated pet recovery service.

"I know that with the team we are assembling and the vision that has developed, we can continue to grow PetLynx to become even more successful while contributing to the wellbeing of pets in communities," said PetLynx President Dr. Drew Van Niekerk. 

PetLynx is Canada's only information network for storing companion animal information and manages Canada's most recognizable pet services brand. PetLynx automated recovery services are used in more than 340 urban centres across the country. 

"While this is an important milestone in Canada, it also reflects upon the industry approach to animal identification which remains oriented toward small independent data islands," said PetLynx founder, Larry Evans.

Man Sentenced in Pet-Finder Fraud

A New York man has been sentenced to more than five years after admitting to running an investment scam related to a alleged service to return lost pets to their owners.

Fifty-four-year-old, Eric Stein, pleaded guilty to fraud charges in the scam in February. It is said that he has netted over $500,000 and involved dozens of consumers into the scam through a company called Return-A-Pet through false and misleading advertisements.

The Return-A-Pet service offered identification tags to be placed on pets that featured a 24-hour staffed toll-free number. 

Read the News Release

2011 Year of the Cat Report Released

The 2011 Year of the Cat focused awareness on the need for routine veterinary care, identification and spay/neuter procedures, which resulted in a better understanding of Canada's most popular pet – the cat.

Now available is an indepth look into the 2011 Year of the Cat campaign. Click here for the full report.

For more information on Year of the Cat, please contact Judi Cannon at judi.cannon@petlynxmail.com or 705.930.7387.

The importance of microchips - Lessons learned from Katrina

Significant disaster planning prevented the nearly unimaginable June EF-5 tornado that flattened a 6-mile long and half-mile wide swath in Joplin, Mo., from being worse. The Missouri authorities had been fine-tuning their disaster response for years, and it paid off. What we learned about people being unwilling to leave their pets during Hurricane Katrina about pets was applied: Some emergency shelter space accommodated pets.

Although it’s painful to contemplate what could have been worse in what the National Weather Service calls “the deadliest [tornado] since modern recordkeeping began in 1950,” there was one area lacking in which people could have prevented much heartache: microchips.

About 1,300 pets ended up in the Joplin Humane Society. The trick was reuniting them with their owners – a difficult task given that all but a handful of the pets did not have an ID tag or a microchip. Seen as an unnecessary expense by some people, a tiny microchip and its one-time cost could have saved a lot of worry and grief.

Read the article on The Pet Connection Blog