The sunny, warm weather of Regina in June favoured those attending the second annual Prairie Regional Summit for Urban Animal Strategies. Hotel Saskatchewan is a heritage site in this provincial capital and its central location provided easy access for those attending the event on Monday, 15 June 2009. This was the first Regional Summit to be staged in the late afternoon/early evening and the change seemed to work for those who needed the extra travel time.
Delegates from Saskatoon, Prince Albert, Regina and several smaller centres across the Canadian prairies represented the animal welfare, animal control & enforcement, animal health & wellness and animal service sectors of the industry. The Prairie Summit was planned and delivered in collaboration with the Regina Humane Society. The event was co-sponsored by Procter & Gamble Total Petcare, Securican General Insurance and PetLynx Corporation.
The presentation of the 2008 Urban Animal Survey on the business of urban animals stimulated a great deal of discussion. Among the items collected during Session One were the following:
* Evidence shows we need to identify and alter animals prior to their first homing event
* Reproducing spay/neuter report showing gender would be interesting
* Tracking call centre and online assist events separately would be interesting
* Another important source of pets are the 'used.com' sites
Session Two provided a stimulating discussion of cats and a feline friendly community. It was obvious to these delegates that we need a more collaborative and integrated approach to messaging in our communities. It was noted that cats are perfect reproduction machines that have a tremendous ability to adapt to environment and conditions. The media may also be responsible for attitudes towards cats since cats are often presented in a negative way while dogs are presented more postively. Collecting feral data may be problematic when the general public has so little understanding of the feral cat or the feral cat environment.
One of the most interesting discussions was in the area of how to increase the value of cats in the community. Several useful ideas came forward in the area of 'working cats': rodent control in businesses, office cats and cats in social programs like seniors, special needs, prisons, remand centres and juvenile offenders.
The discussion as to why cats lack value in our communities focussed on education and awareness but in the end delegates suggested that the fact that it is socially acceptable to under-value cats just like it used to be socially acceptable to drink and drive is very telling. Finally the ability cats have to reproduce in large numbers also contributes to lower values because the supply outstrips demand.
Louise Yates, President of Regina Humane Society moderated the 2009 Prairie Regional Summit with a very capable and confident approach. She also introduced the 'table scramble' to ensure that delegates moved to other tables before dinner and made themselves acquainted with other industry colleagues. It is always gratifying to see these new relationships being formed and supported across the geography and sectors of the industry.
It was great to see old friends like Linda Gubbe of SCAT in Saskatoon and to make new friends like Francis Wach of Saskatchewan SPCA, Karen Harasen of the Saskatchewan Veterinary Medical Assocation and Pat Vogt, President of People for Animals of Saskatchewan who brought input from their groups.
A decision on how to alternate the Prairie Region Summit between centres was not made, however, it was suggested that the Summit be moved between Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba on a three year rotation. The next Prairie Regional Summit is set for the week of 19 April 2010.
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