New Government Consumer Website Includes Pet Food Recall InfoSeptember 10, 2009 The United States Department of Agriculture and the United States Department of Health & Human Services on Sept. 9 launched a food safety consumer website that will include pet food recall information. “We want to protect pets and animals so we will include information as it comes up,” said Vicki Rivas-Vazquez, a spokeswoman for HHS. The new website features information from all the agencies across the federal government that deal with critical food and food safety information. The goal is to provide a “one-stop online shop for all the latest information [consumers] need to reduce the danger of food-borne illnesses,” said Jerry Mande, deputy under secretary for Food Safety at USDA. The website will include information on food safety, food recalls (human and pet), preventive tips about how to handle food safely and news from the key agencies. Visitors can also sign up to receive email and RSS alerts on recalled or potentially unsafe food. The website will eventually include recall feeds for texting and mobile phones as well as a foodsafety.gov widget that the public and media can download and promote on their websites and social networking sites. The widget will instantly …
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California Spay/Neuter Fails AssemblySeptember 9, 2009 California Senate Bill 250, which would require spay or neuter surgery for most of the state’s dogs and cats, failed on the Assembly floor 28-42 on Sept. 8. Reconsideration was granted, allowing the bill to be voted on again Sept. 9. Results had not been announced by press time. The bill had been amended on the Assembly floor Aug. 31. SB 250, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Dean Florez, calls on cat owners to spay or neuter their cats at 6 months of age if the cats are allowed to roam at large. The bill also requires the sterilization of all dogs at 6 months old unless the owner gets an unaltered dog license. The bill also now would require anyone who sells or adopts out an intact dog, regardless of the dog’s age, to provide the licensing agency with the name and address of the new owner within 10 days. Any existing unaltered dog’s license number and microchip number for the dog must appear on the document transferring ownership of the dog to the new owner. The bill also provides that an intact dog with a current intact license will not be required to …
Pethealth Signs Licensing Agreement With PetSmart CharitiesSeptember 8, 2009 Under a new license agreement, Pethealth Inc. will provide PetSmart Charities access to its animal shelter data, as well as technical and IT support, for analyzing trends in animal welfare throughout the United States. The non-exclusive license runs through Dec. 31, 2011. The data will come from Pethealth’s PetPoint animal management system, which is used by more than 1,200 animal welfare organizations in the United States and Canada. The Ontario-based company has aggregated data on more than 4.2 million animal intakes and 1.5 million pet adoptions since the product was first launched in March 2005. PetSmart Charities will use the information to assist it in planning and evaluating its various programs to animal welfare organizations at city, state and national levels. The data will also help PetSmart Charities strategically grant funds and assess the impact of funding on saving the lives of homeless pets, said Susana Della Maddalena, executive director of PetSmart Charities. Pethealth said it expects to generate a minimum of $400,000 over the life of the contract with PetSmart Charities. “We are pleased to announce our partnership with PetSmart Charities,” said Mark Warren, president and chief …
Advanced Animal Diagnostics Names New PresidentSeptember 4, 2009Advanced Animal Diagnostics has named Joy Parr Drach as its president. Parr Drach is a founder and senior partner of Entira, a management and marketing consulting firm for agribusiness companies. She will continue in an advisory role at the firm. “We are excited to have Joy join AAD at this important time for our business,” said Rudy Rodriguez, who will remain as the company’s chief scientific officer. “She brings a unique combination of expertise in agribusiness and new product introductions that will benefit AAD as we move toward commercialization of the first generation of our technology platform products.” Rodriguez is also the founder of Advanced Animal Diagnostics and a member of the board of directors. The Durham, N.C.-based research and development company was founded in 2001 to commercialize exclusively licensed proprietary technology for the diagnosis of farm-animal diseases. <HOME>
California Intact Animal Cap Bill Passes SenateSeptember 3, 2009 California Assembly Bill 241, which would limit the number of intact dogs and cats any person could own for breeding and selling as pets, passed the Senate on Sept. 2 and now moves to the Assembly for a concurrence vote. The bill had been amended on the Senate floor Aug. 24 to read, “No person or business entity, as defined, shall own, possess, control or otherwise have charge or custody of more than a combined total of 50 adult unsterilized dogs and cats, in the state, at any time used for the purpose of breeding or raising dogs or cats for sale as pets.” The bill previously did not include the term “business entity,” which is defined as any company, firm, association, partnership, business trust, corporation, limited liability company or other legal entity. This does not apply to public animal control agencies, shelters, rescue groups, veterinary facilities and research facilities. In addition, AB 241 would make it a misdemeanor to act in concert with another person or to voluntarily assist a business entity in violating these provisions. Those who possess too many dogs or cats would have to spay or neuter the excess animals or …
Actress Hilary Swank To Promote Pet Adoption During Iams Home 4 The Holidays CampaignSeptember 2, 2009Academy Award-winning actress Hilary Swank has been selected to serve as the 2009 ambassador for Iams Home 4 the Holidays pet adoption campaign. Home 4 the Holiday’s founding partner, the Helen Woodward Animal Center, and nearly 3,500 participating animal organizations plan to help 1.5 million pets find homes during this year’s adoption drive, which runs Oct. 1 to Jan. 4, 2010. As the 2009 ambassador, Swank will share her personal experience with adoption and rescue in an effort to help educate the public on how they can help homeless pets. According to Iams, the Million Dollar Baby star has adopted many pets throughout her life, including her two dogs Karoo and Rumi. “I’m proud to be working with Iams Home 4 the Holidays to help raise awareness about the importance of pet adoption,” Swank said in a statement. “Last year, the program’s adoption goal was to get 1 million pets adopted in just three months, but this year the goal is even bigger.” The Iams Home 4 the Holidays program started in 1999 and has since helped more than 3.2 million pets find homes. “Now more than ever orphaned animals need our help, and who better …
AVMA Survey: Salaries Up For New Vets But Job Offers DownSeptember 1, 2009 Most starting salaries are up for new veterinarians, but the number of graduates who received job offers by the time they graduated has dropped, according to an American Veterinary Medical Association survey. For instance, 79.5 percent of respondents received an offer of employment or advanced education by their graduation date in 2009, down about 11.5 percent from the class of 2008. The AVMA attributes the decline to the economy. Of those who received an offer, nearly half received more than one. Eighty-four percent of those seeking employment accepted an offer. The average starting salary among all employer types combined increased 0.7 percent, from $48,328 in 2008 to $48,684 in 2009, according to the survey. Excluding those who continued their education through advanced study, the average starting salary increased 5.2 percent, from $61,633 in 2008 to $64,826 in 2009. When looking at various employer types, the average starting salary in the public-corporate sector decreased 7.3 percent in 2009 while the average starting salary in all types of private practice increased 6 percent. Average starting salaries in the private sector, excluding those for equine practices, ranged from $63,172 for food animal predominant positions to $72,318 for food …
California Spay/Neuter Bill Gets AmendedSeptember 1, 2009 California Senate Bill 250, which would require spay or neuter surgery for most of the state’s dogs and cats was amended on the Assembly floor Aug. 31 and is now on its second reading. SB 250, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Dean Florez, calls on cat owners to spay or neuter their cats at 6 months of age if the cats are allowed to roam at large. The bill also requires the sterilization of all dogs at 6 months old unless the owner gets an unaltered dog license. The bill has been amended to require anyone who sells or adopts out an intact dog, regardless of the dog’s age, to provide the licensing agency with the name and address of the new owner within 10 days. Any existing unaltered dog’s license number and microchip number for the dog must appear on the document transferring ownership of the dog to the new owner. The bill also now provides that an intact dog with a current intact license will not be required to be sterilized on a first offense: “In any case in which the owner or custodian of a dog with an unaltered dog license is cited …
Good Customer Service Could Win Animal Shelter/Groups MoneyAugust 31, 2009 Maddie’s Fund will be awarding prizes totaling $50,000 to 70 Petfinder.com member shelter and rescue groups for good customer service from now through Sept. 18. The contest can be won in three ways: • E-mail. Each week, the Petfinder.com Foundation will randomly e-mail three member rescue groups with questions about an available dog or cat posted on their websites. If they get helpful information about that animal within 24 hours, the rescue group will win $500. • Phone. The same process will take place but instead of e-mailing, the foundation will randomly call three shelters. If a live person answers the phone and provides helpful information about that animal (or connects the caller to someone who does), the shelter will win $500. • In person. An “adopter” will randomly visit one selected shelter in a different state each week. If the “adopter” reports that the shelter experience was positive, pleasant and helpful, the shelter will win $2,000. The contest coincides with The Shelter Pet Project, a national three-year Ad Council campaign sponsored by Maddie’s Fund and The Humane Society of the United States in partnership with Petfinder.com. The campaign sets out to encourage people …
Banfield Names Dr. Jeffrey Klausner As Chief Medical OfficerAugust 28, 2009 Banfield, The Pet Hospital of Portland, Ore., has named Jeffrey Klausner, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM, as senior vice president and chief medical officer. As such, Dr. Klausner will be responsible for driving the medical direction of the practice and helping Banfield veterinarians “deliver the highest quality of veterinary medicine.” He is also working to inspire other veterinarians to join Banfield. Klausner joined the practice in March as vice president of professional relations and government affairs, where he remains responsible for building and strengthening relationships with universities and national veterinary organizations. Prior to Banfield, Klausner was the president and chief executive officer for The Animal Medical Center in New York City. “As a medical and academic leader in the veterinary profession, Dr. Klausner’s years of experience will be instrumental in furthering our mission of providing high quality of veterinary medicine through patient outcomes,” said John Payne, president and chief executive officer of Banfield. “As our practice continues to grow and evolve, it is even more important that we continue to deliver on our promise—Dr. Klausner has the knowledge, experience and passion to guide the direction of medicine within our practice.”
