Animal Homing With Social Media

This creative video is using Social Media to promote the power of television advertising ... but at PetLynx Corporation we felt it does double-duty by promoting adoptions from animal shelters, too!

And, considering that the focus of the 2010 International Summit for Urban Animal Strategies was 'Homing Animals" we couldn't resist sharing this with you!

Too bad every 'Harvey' can't get this kind of promotion ...

so that all homeless companion animals could be HomeSafe!

Find out how you can help a homeless animal this year!

Check out Iams Homes4the Holidays.

Announcing the 2010 Summit Award Winners!

CALGARY, ALBERTA, 18 OCTOBER 2010: Close to 100 delegates and guests gathered at the beautiful Chateau Fairmont Lake Louise, Alberta, on Friday, October 15th, to celebrate the achievements of their colleagues at the 5th Annual International Summit for Urban Animal Strategies (ISUAS) gala awards night.

Summit Awards were presented in a dozen different categories, representing all four sectors of the companion animal industry including:

    •    animal control and legislative enforcement,
    •    animal welfare,
    •    animal health and wellness, and
    •    animal services.

Winners were determined by current ISUAS delegates and alumnus in good standing who cast their ballots via a confidential computerized voting system.

The 2010 International Summit for Urban Animal Strategies is on now!

THANK YOU TO OUR VALUED SPONSORS!

CLICK HERE for more info on the International Summit For Urban Animal Strategies.

Posted by Terri Perrin, Online Communications Editor

The 2010 Summit for Urban Animal Strategies Presents:

The 2010 Summit for Urban Animal Strategies Presents:

The 4th Annual Summit Awards Gala

Featuring Entertainer Dale Downing and

Master of Ceremonies Andrew Patton, Canadian Kennel Club

The Summit Awards are in celebration of those who have achieved the recognition of their peers for proficiency or achievement in the care of pets and people in communities across Canada. The event will be held on Friday, 15 October 2010 at the beautiful Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, Alberta.

This year's Entertainer, Dale Downing brings us comedy, illusions and crowd pleasing magic in a performance that has made him famous in a career spanning four continents and 30 years. His inspired performances have earned standing ovations, repeat engagements, awards from his peers and a place along side the country's outstanding entertainers.

Back by popular demand our Master of Ceremonies is the engaging and ever enthusiastic Andrew C. Patton, from the Canadian Kennel Club.

Andrew sees great opportunity for the companion animal industry in "big-picture collaboration, allowing us the prospect of touching every pet in Canada and engaging and offering value to the pet families with whom they live."

Andrew aspires to be the person the dogs in his life think he is and enjoys misquoting one of Napoleon’s generals: “We can either love cats or understand them, but never both.”

For information of the Summit Awards Gala email: judi.canon@petlynxmail.com.

Posted by Terri Perrin, Online Communications Editor

2010 Summit Speaker Synopsis Part XIII

The International Summit for Urban Animal Strategies Presents:

High Volume Spay/Neuter Clinics

Presenters: Kate MacDonald and Jim Sykes, Ontario SPCA

This session will tell the story of how the high-volume spay/neuter model was introduced in Ontario … and more importantly, of the impact the model has had in the brief period of time since its inception.

FixYourPet.ca … It’s the kindest thing you can do.

A legacy for Animal Welfare in Ontario

Learn the key components of developing the model including forming strategic partnerships, establishing the goals and objectives, working within regulations and engaging our communities and the public in the cause.

By the end of the session, you will have gained a synopsis of the program’s impact to date and future projections, the key components of the business plan and budget for one site, and an overview of the marketing messages and communications strategies for the promotion of spay/neuter.   

ABOUT KATE MACDONALD

Kate MacDonald has 25 years experience in the non-profit sector, specializing in strategic planning, capital campaign management, financial analysis, non-profit administration and donor relations.

Currently, Kate serves as Chief Executive Officer for the Ontario SPCA, supporting over 50 active communities across Ontario. Kate’s main emphasis is on re-focusing the organization’s cultural vision to concentrate on collaborative service delivery, including establishing strategic alliances, strengthening brand recognition and developing province-wide fund development programs.  Since joining the Ontario SPCA in 2007, the organization has achieved the strongest financial position in recent history, has strengthened provincial legislation with the first substantive change in 90 years, and has introduced the first high-volume spay/neuter services in the province, along with the award winning public service campaign FixYourPet.ca.

Kate looks forward to contributing to the Year of the Cat in 2011 by engaging communities across the province to promote the campaign and by being an active member of the Care for Cats Advisory Council, chaired by Dr. Liz O’Brien.

Kate is proud of the contributions she has made to organizations including United Way, Canadian Living Foundation, Sunnybrook Foundation, William Osler Health Centre Foundation and Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Kate is an active volunteer nationally and within her rural community, has taught fundraising at Mount Royal College and is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

ABOUT JIM SYKES
 
Jim has spent his entire career working with grassroots community groups and large national organizations.  He spent ten years as a faculty member at Hamilton’s Mohawk College teaching urban politics and psychology.  After a career of more than twenty-five years as a community development and management professional in the Canadian YMCA Jim decided to re-challenge his skills by working with the Hamilton/Burlington SPCA as its President and CEO from 2004–2009.

During this time the Hamilton/Burlington SPCA expanded the scope of its programs and services, pioneering the ASPCA© Meet Your Match™ family of adoption related programs in Canada, created a range of new youth/humane education programs, re-launching a greatly enhanced Pet Encounter Therapy program, and successfully brought Therapeutic Riding programs under the HBSPCA’s umbrella.  In the Fall of 2009 the HBSPCA successfully accredited a new Companion Animal Hospital within its existing 28,000 square foot facility.  In 2007 at the National Summit for Urban Animal Strategies, Jim was selected by his colleagues to receive the prestigious “Summit Award for Individual Achievement”  This award recognized Jim’s leadership in Animal Welfare at both the Ontario SPCA and Hamilton/Burlington SPCA.

In October of 2009 Jim accepted the position of Chief Operating Officer for the Ontario SPCA where he had previously been the volunteer President and Chairman of the Board of Directors for almost four years.

Jim’s current work with the Ontario SPCA focuses on assisting the CEO and Board with a renewed vision for the organization to be shared with the fifty communities that it currently serves under the OSPCA Act.
 
Jim’s family includes four dachshunds all adopted from the SPCA over the past six years.
 
For information on other Summit speakers and topics, check the agenda.


Learn more about the Summit For Urban Animal Strategies. Click here.

Posted by Terri Perrin, Online Communications Editor

2010 Summit Speaker Synopsis Part XII

The International Summit for Urban Animal Strategies Presents:

A Framework for National Codes of Conduct 

Presenter: Louis McCann 

Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council Canada (PIJAC Canada)

The welfare of urban animals in Canada is the common link between all sectors of the pet industry.  With a long history of philosophical differences these sectors have frequently found it a challenge to collaborate.  This presentation will discuss the reality the industry is currently facing and why national codes of conduct are desperately needed to help address homing issues.

Louis McCann will propose a step by step plan on how to work together and explain why a cooperative pooling of resources is the path to progress.  He will offer evidence of other success stories and discuss how existing materials can help pave the way to developing codes of conduct.  Louis will share his experiences from both the SPCA and business sides of the industry to illustrate why a unified approach is the key for success.

2010 Summit Speaker Synopsis Part XI

The International Summit for Urban Animal Strategies Presents: 

Responsible Homing Practices at Retail

Presenters: Kieth Burgess, PIJAC /Pet Paradise

and Robert Brissette, Petland Canada Inc.

As a community based source for pets and pet care information Canadian pet retailers have an integral role in helping to ensure pets find good homes.  Pet stores have come a long way since they first appeared in the 1950’s. 

As the emotional value of pets has sky rocketed in the last decade owners are becoming more conscious and open to the needs of their animals. A respected, easily accessible source for information, retail stores are well positioned to educate owners about the responsibility and work involved in caring for their pets.  This presentation will take a brief look back at the evolution of pet retail and what drives it today.

Keith Burgess and Robert Brissette will explore the challenges faced by both independent and large operations, as well as, share the homing initiatives they use in their business models to illustrate how reputable retailers are working to advance the well-being of pets in their communities.

2010 Summit Speaker Synopsis Part X

The International Summit for Urban Animal Strategies Presents:

Homing Practices Amongst Canadian Canine Breeders

Presenter: Lee Steeves, Canadian Kennel Club

In this thought-provoking and fact-filled presentation Lee Steeves will provide an in-depth look at the demographics of Canadian Kennel Club dog breeders. She will examine some of the basic characteristics of dog breeders and what makes them unique. Further discussion about the CKC's Code of Ethics and Breeder Code of Practice will shed light onto this important but often misunderstood segment of the companion animal industry.


Steeves will also delve into some of the 'Why's and How's' of the CKC's Breeder Focus: what steps are being taken to ensure breed improvement; breeder and public education; and some of the challenges faced into today's environment.


Looking to the future of the CKC and dog breeders, Steeves will discuss topics such as market share, media focus, validation of breeding stock and the supply/demand chain.

2010 Summit Speaker Synopsis Part VIII

The International Summit for Urban Animal Strategies Presents:

HomeSafe™, Bringing Voluntary Compliance to our Industry

Presenter: Larry Evans, PetLynx Corporation

The companion animal industry has focused on developing a more ‘responsible pet parent’ for at least the past four years. This activity has established an awareness level that can now serve as the foundation for an acceleration phase within our industry. The pet parents we serve have already shown  they are willing to be responsible in other areas of their lives.

This presentation discusses the broader concept of ‘compliance’ and seeks to understand it in the context of the entire industry.  We will seek to illuminate the need for consensus in the definition of compliance and to examine voluntary compliance as the best/only approach for the pets and people we serve in our communities.

2010 Summit Speaker Synopsis Part IX

The International Summit for Urban Animal Strategies Presents:
WikiBrands ~ Reinventing your Business in a Customer-Driven Marketplace
Presenter: Mike Dover, Socialstruct Advisory Group


Based on the upcoming book Wikibrands: Reinventing Your Company in a Customer-Driven Marketplace this presentation discusses how companies can deploy technology to engage customers in discussions about their brands in a meaningful way.

For the longest period of time companies created products and services, pushed them out to their customers using the tools of the period. The 4Ps of marketing were sacrosanct – product, place, promotion and price. When strategies were formed, these customer functions were in the business of planning and pushing out these messages, through media intermediaries. The message was controlled; our role as consumers was to listen and buy. Now faced with a dramatic shift in how the technology-enabled collaboration changes relationships, an Internet-savvy generation will bring about huge changes in business and culture. 

2010 Summit Speaker Synopsis Part VII

The International Summit for Urban Animal Strategies Presents:
Homing Animals in the Canadian Urban Environment
Presenter: Lisa Chen, Socialstruct


Petlynx has conducted a number of empirical research studies to investigate public opinion and metrics on behalf of the industry.  This presentation discusses how we can best mine the plethora of existing data and the strategies we can use to collect real-time market intelligence on a go forward basis.  Among the areas we will discuss are the following:

2010 Summit Speaker Synopsis Part VI

The International Summit for Urban Animal Strategies Presents:

Animal Services in an Urban Municipality

Presenter: John Wilson, City of Edmonton

Recent events in the City of Edmonton have created an opportunity for City Council and the Administration to undertake a critical review of it's Animal Care and Control service delivery model. High euthanasia rates; the construction of a state-of-the-art care and control facility; and a new campus style animal services delivery model partnering with the Edmonton Humane Society all require changes to the way we think about companion pets in our community. They have also clarified the need to pursue an ambitious outcome; that no adoptable animal is euthanized in the City of Edmonton.

In order to develop a comprehensive series of recommendations to improve animal care and control services to achieve this outcome the City conducted research into the companion pet situation in Edmonton.

Summit Speaker Synopsis Part V

The International Summit for Urban Animal Strategies Presents:
2010 Canadian Breeder Survey
Presenter: Joe Mauro, Canadian Kennel Club

In March of 2010 the Canadian Kennel Club (CKC)  conducted an in-house survey of its breeder community. 2009 ended with a significant drop in dog registrations and CKC wanted to find out why.

The survey centred on breeders with registered dogs in 2008 who saw a drop in the number of dogs registered with CKC in 2009. It examined breeder attitudes and perceptions to the factors affecting their breeding programs.

2010 Summit Speaker Synopsis Part IV

The International Summit for Urban Animal Strategies

Presents an Amazing Group of Speakers
Moderated by an Amazing  Facilitator:
Karen Dawson

With a lifetime of experience that includes everything from cocktail waitress to physics teacher ... and now pursuing a PhD program researching organizational effectiveness and change-making as a relational phenomenon, Karen Dawson is well qualified to lead The Summit for Urban Animal Strategies in executive level discussions on the topic of homing animals.

Karen's role as moderator is to support Summit participants as they engage in conversations to develop strategies focused on the many challenges relating to homing animals faced by the various sectors of  the companion animal industry.