My Fire Hydrant

I’ve been writing the past couple of days about Bideawee in New York City, and I thought I should mention that I got to visit Bideawee last year. While I was there I learned that on average, pets stay with the Center around 32 days before being adopted by their forever family. They usually have around 100 animals available, with more cats than dogs (25-30 dogs/70-75 cats). Bideawee does its best to set the pet up for successful adoption—and they succeed! The national average for pet returns is 15-20%. Bidawee’s returns is only 5%! People come from all over the country to find their match at Bideawee. And the pets come from all over too! While I was there, I got to meet some Chihuahuas from California (where there has been an outbreak of “purse” dogs) and some puppies from Tennessee.

Unlike other adoption centers I’ve visited, Bideawee Manhattan is more horizontal than vertical. Instead of being laid out on one level, Bideawee has four floors to accommodate all its services and facilities. And every available space is used with economy and efficiency.

One of the cat rooms

Puppies being socialized

Hello! Wanna play?

One of the veterianry clinic's exam rooms.

Surgery room within the veterinary clinic

The Intensive Care Unit

Penny, one of the office cats.

Another office cat.

One Sweet face looking for a home

This kitten is climbing the walls looking for his family.

Come play with me!

A sweet face and a gentle purr.

Waiting patiently for a new family.

When Fiora D’Auby Kibbe founded Bideawee in 1903, she had a revolutionary idea: shelter unwanted pets until they could be placed in good homes instead of destroying them. Mrs. Kibbe was inspired to do this work after visiting Paris (France) where she had seen the Barrone d”Herpents Dog Refuge at Gennevilliers. This small French humane group sent its dog ambulance all over Paris to pick up unwanted and stray dogs. What was unique was that instead of destroying the dogs—as was the custom of the time—the group kept the dogs until new homes could be found.

Mrs. Kibbe’s humane efforts were not limited to unwanted pets. At the turn of the century, horses were the main mode of transportation. Through the efforts of Bideawee, fresh-water troughs were placed and maintained throughout the city—some of them still exist to this day.

Initially, Bideawee (“stay a while”) was located in a small building on Lexington Avenue, near Mrs. Kibbe’s home. But by 1909 there were nearly 200 dogs crammed into the makeshift space—in a very elegant residential area. The neighbors were very unhappy with the incessant barking, and Mrs. Kibbe was forced to move her shelter to Harrington, New Jersey. In 1912, after several moves, Bideawee found its own home (formerly a garage) on 38^th Street, near the East River. This was a premium location for their work because at that time people brought unwanted pets to the river to drown them.

By 1915, Bideawee was overflowing and needed more space. A property in Wantagh, Long Island was purchased. And by 1916, the spacious grounds around the Wantagh Country Home also included a beautiful Pet Memorial Park.

As the years passed, Bideawee changed with the times. The area around Wantagh evolved from rural to densely populated and once again Bideawee needed more space. In 1956 the first kennel was built on 200 acres on Old Country Road in Westhampton. This was quickly followed by a second kennel and then a cattery. By 1966 a new adoption center was opened and a second Pet Memorial Park was established in Westhamption.

Today, Bideawee is one of the oldest and largest humane organizations in the United States. And Mrs. Kibbe is regarded as a pioneer in the “no-kill” movement.

Programs and Services

• Two Adoption Centers: Manhattan and Westhampton, NY; all pets receive a complete medical exam, socialization or basic training, spay/neuter, micro-chip.
• Second Start Program: Bideawee staff visit overwhelmed municipal shelters on a regular basis to rescue pets about to be euthanized due to lack of space/resources giving them a second chance at a new home. .
• Veterinary Medical Services: a fully equipped medical center in both adoption center locations provides affordable, high quality care for the pets living in the centers as well as pets living in the vicinity.
• Veterinary Medical Assistance Fund: gives assistance to private pet clients to offset the high costs associated with emergency treatment, catastrophic illness, or other special medical care when they might not otherwise be able to afford vet care for their pets.
• Three Learning Centers: Located in Manhattan, Westhampton, and Wantagh offer educational programs that promote healthy, positive relationships between people and pets of all ages.
• Reading to Dogs: Reading to a non-judgmental, non-critical, and loving four-footed friend helps children with reading challenges become better readers
• Doga: Yoga for dogs brings dog and owner together for a relaxing session of massage and stretch. Regular sessions are held at both Learning Centers
• Pet Therapy: Bideawee trained pet therapy pairs bring the healing effect of pets to schools, youth centers, homeless shelters, nursing homes and hospitals in the NYC and Long Island regions.
• Pet Behavioral Training: at all three sites; group and private classes as well as “Ask the Trainer” sessions at community events help pet owners better understand and communicate with their pets.
• Humane Education: Trained volunteers help teach responsible pet ownership, pet safety, training, animal health, licensing, and ethical animal treatment.
• Pet Memorial Parks: at Westhampton and Wantagh; two of the oldest (1916) and largest (over 65,000 pets) parks offer a final resting place for cherished animal companions and include the support and guidance of compassionate Bideawee staff and counselors.
• Bereavement Counseling: Pet loss support groups meet on a regular basis to help pet owners deal with their loss.
• Dog Park: located in Westhampton, is “Love Unleashed.”
• Locations & Hours of Operations

2009 Stats

• 1,176 Adoptions
• 645 Second Start Rescues
• 275 Volunteers
• 113 Pet Therapy Pairs
• 28 Reading to Dogs Program Locations
• 13,791 Veterinary, Shelter and Private Pet Patients
• 1,093 Pet Memorial Park Interments and Cremations

I’m going to New York City!

On Monday, June 13, I will be in NYC to attend Bideawee’s June Gala. Bideawee (a Scottish term for “stay a while”) is one of the oldest animal pet adoption and animal welfare organizations in the United States and serves the New York metropolitan area and Long Island communities. I’m going to the Gala because Iams has been named Bideawee’s 2011 Corporate Honoree!

Bideawee is presenting the celebrated “Bideawee Corporate Award” to Iams in recognition of our corporate contributions to foster the health and well being of pets. It makes me so proud to have this incredible organization take notice of our long-standing commitment in promoting responsible pet adoption and our support of animal adoption organizations across the country. Bideawee is part of our Iams Home 4 the Holidays campaign. This past year, you may recall, we helped more than 1.1 million pets to find forever homes and donated 5 million meals to shelter and rescue pets in need. It’s icing on the cake for Bideawee to honor us with this award!

Some very exciting news! Our second annual “Behind the Paw” summit is scheduled for next week! We’ve invited a furbulous group of pet community advocates and anipals to come for a visit to learn more about P&G Pet Care. We’ll be tweeting about it–if you’re on Twitter be sure to watch for #BehindThePaw to get updates. Here’s a preview of what’s happening!

Another reason why I love where I work!

The official statement:

“P&G has donated nearly 12 tons of dog and cat food to the help the animals in Arkansas and Alabama that were displaced by the recent tornadoes. The food was distributed to several locations throughout the region to help save the lives of the many dogs and cats that were affected. We will continue to monitor the situation to determine if further assistance is needed.”

Some stuff that happened behind-the-scenes:

When asked to help, our closest distributor immediately worked out a plan to interrupt schedule product shipments so that they could get the product donation shipped to where it was needed. They also donated their time to do it.

We’ve already heard from some of the rescue groups located in the tornado-stressed areas—they posted on the Iams Facebook wall that they’ve received much-needed Iams food to help feed displaced dogs and cats.

I’m so glad we were able to get food where it was needed so quickly!

My boss, Jason, with one of the celebrity presenters at the press conference.

Here’s another reason why I love where I work. This past Thursday, my boss Jason Taylor was in New York City where he donated 15 tons of Iams and Eukanuba dog and cat food to the Food Bank for New York City.

The Food Bank is an incredible organization. They’ve been around for 28 years, working to end poverty. Not only do they distribute food to needy families, provide income support and training, they also offer nutritional education to children and adults. Each day, they provide 400,000 free meals for New Yorkers in need.

Why is my boss giving them dog and cat food? To feed the dogs and cats of people who cannot afford to buy dog and cat food.

We’ve partnered with VCA Charities Pet Program to launch a 6-month pet food distribution program for needy New York pets through the Food Bank for New York City. We’re providing food. VCA is providing certificates for wellness checkups at their VCA hospitals in the New York City area.

Lucy Cabrera, Ph.D., President & CEO of the Food Bank For NYC said, “In the midst of a jobless economic recovery, escalating food and fuel costs, today three million New York City residents are having difficulty affording food. That certainly means there is little or nothing left to feed their beloved pets. We truly want to thank the Iams and VCA Charities for recognizing the urgent need to keep families together and for helping our client’s pets stay healthy and hearty.”

I’m so glad we were able to help launch this program!

More photos.

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You may have noticed that every day this month, I am featuring adoptable Bichons and Bichon Blends who are fostered by Small Paws Rescue.

Small Paws is a community of foster families spread across the country where Small Paws Fluffs are housed until their forever family is found. There is no “brick-and-mortar” facility like your local humane society or SPCA. But you can still view all the Small Paws Fluffs available for adoption. The Small Paws “adoption center” is located online at Petfinder.com.

This month, Petfinder celebrates 15 years of service to pet adoption! Since 1996, Petfinder has helped more than 17 million pets find homes! Now that’s something to celebrate!

On Tuesday March 15, I’m going to help Petfinder ADOPT THE INTERNET–and you can too! Here’s what I’m going to do:

On this blog:

• I’ve already added a badge on the right side of my blog to show my support.

• On Tuesday, I will be posting an article about what pet adoption means to me.

On my Facebook Page:

• On Tuesday I’ll be changing my Facebook profile photo to an adoptable pet from Petfinder for the day.

• I will post a special message of support for Petfinder on my wall.

I’m taking over the Iams Facebook Page: (I have admin rights on the Iams Facebook account.)

• I’ll be changing the Iams Facebook profile to the “Adopt the Internet Day” logo

• And I’ll be encouraging all of the over 165,000 Iams Facebook fans to change their profile photos too!

On Twitter:

• I’m going to tweet about it on Monday and Tuesday and use the hash tag #adopttheinternet

So, is pet adoption important to you? What are you going to do to celebrate and support Petfinder on it’s 15th birthday?

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Read more…

The new wind turbine at our pet food plant in Coevorden, The Netherlands

You probably don’t know that Procter & Gamble (P&G) has a corporate sustainability program. You might also not know that P&G Pet Care (the company I work for) has a pet food plant in Coevorden, The Netherlands, that makes our products for consumers in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

As part of our (P&G’s) corporate sustainability program, the ultimate goal is to power our plants with 100% renewable energy. We will accomplish this in increments. By 2020, we want P&G’s plants to be powered by at least 30% renewable energy.

So here’s what I find really exciting: This month, the Iams/Eukanuba plant in Coevorden added a wind turbine to its power grid, and by pressing the red button that started the turbine our plant jumped the 2020 deadline by 8 years! Our Coevorden plant is now getting one third of its power from the very first P&G wind turbine! As my buddy Dan Rajczak (Senior Vice President of Global Pet Care and Snacks) said:

“Pet Care is proud to lead the way on turbine-generated renewable energy for P&G. Meeting our 2020 Sustainability goals for this plant a full eight years ahead of our commitment is a significant achievement.”

Dan is absolutely right! This makes me so proud!

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In the middle of the front row, in the green Iams shirt, is my buddy Leah. She's taking a pledge for $1,000.00!

So much fun today! We (Iams) helped out at the SPCA Cincinnati’s 15^th annual Adopt-A-Pet Fund telethon. We were LIVE on Cincinnati’s Channel 12 WKRC! And the telethon brought $111,830.00 in donations to help the SPCA! (And you can still donate!)

You may remember that back in September we (the employees of Iams/Eukanuba) did a shelter make-over at one of the SPCA Cincinnati’s two locations (here’s a slide show of photos I found while writing this post).

Founded in 1873, originally to abolish the inhumane treatment of horses and mules, the SPCA Cincinnati serves an area of approximately 500 square miles that has a population of over 900,000 people. They are totally funded by private donations—no tax money or government funding! And what an incredible job they do!

• They operate from 2 locations where thousands of orphaned pets are matched up with qualified families every year.

• Their Companion Animal Access Program (CAAP) certifies dogs to be pet therapy dogs allowing them to visit hospitals and nursing homes to cheer up people who might need some canine love and put a smile on their face.

• Their staff and volunteers visit Cincinnati schools and organizations to teach about animal welfare, pet responsibility, and pet safety. They raise awareness of the positive benefits of having a pet in your life, and promote the need for spay/neuter.

• They offer basic dog training classes.

• They have full-time Humane Agents to investigate cases of animal cruelty.

• They offer a 24/7 Emergency Service that transports injured and sick wild or lost companion pets to local veterinary hospitals for treatment.

To help raise money for this very worthy organization, several of my teammates made the trek to the TV studios of Local 12 WKRC-TV. WKRC is very supportive of the SPCA. Not only did the station host the telethon today, they have SPCA Adopt-a-Pet segments on Tuesdays at 4 p.m., Wednesdays at 7:45 a.m. and Saturdays at 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. They also co-sponsor the SPCA’s Mobil Adoption Unit.

Today’s telethon had a beach party theme with lots of local personalities and celebrities dressed for a day at the beach in flowered shirts, shorts, and sandals. There was a beautiful ocean-front background and “sandy” carpet. We heard lots of wonderful stories about successful adoptions along with photos of some beautiful adopted and adoptable pets. And one of my favorite people (and an Iams’ veterinarian) Dr. Amy Dicke, appeared on camera to talk about dental care and digestive care for dogs and cats. Another friend of mine, Deborah Brundage (we call her Debo) appeared on camera to present a donation check on behalf of Iams. Live music (lovin’ those beach tunes!), nice people, and a great cause!

What a fabulous way to spend a Saturday morning!

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This Saturday presents another opportunity to see one of my favorite veterinarians, Dr. Jessica V. of PawCurious, in tears.

I adore Dr. V. because of all she’s done for animals. Not only does she help animals in her professional capacity as a veterinarian, she’s also one of the driving forces behind “Be the Change for Animals,” a grass-roots social media effort that supports animal causes.

A couple months ago, at the BlogPaws West conference in Denver (September 2010), I watched as Mike Arms picked an unsuspecting Dr. V. from the audience to help with his keynote speech (P&G Pet Care—my company—provided both keynote speakers for this conference). I knew Mike would call on someone to help—I’ve seen him do this before. Over breakfast that morning I had strongly requested that he NOT pick ME! Mike had told me he always picks the person who seems the most empathetic and in tune with what he’s saying. He chose the right person when he picked soft-hearted Dr. V.

Mike asked Dr. V to read a very powerful and emotional letter written by a shelter worker in charge of his shelter’s once-a-week euthanizations. This letter underscores the horrendous emotional price our shelter workers pay each time an orphaned pet is uselessly destroyed. By the time Mike told Dr. V. that she could stop reading (she never finished the letter), we were all of us in tears.

(SIDEBAR: Dr. V later said to me that among the lessons she learned during Mike’s keynote address is NEVER SIT IN THE FRONT ROW!)

Dr. V at BlogPaws:

It is appropriate that Dr. V. again help Mike out by reading a letter. This time, it will be during the HOPE Telethon* to benefit the Helen Woodward Animal Center. And it’s a different letter.

So here’s an opportunity to see our favorite Dr. Jessica V. in tears. And be sure you’ve got tissues handy, because she won’t be the only one crying! This will be a cathartic moment for everybody watching, so be sure to tune in to the livestream of the event!

• WHO: Dr. V of Pawcurious and the friends of Helen Woodward Animal Center
• WHAT: The HOPE Telethon, to benefit the HWAC.
• WHERE: Livestreaming over the interwebz at www.AnimalCenter.org
• WHEN: Saturday November 13 from 10am to 2pm, Pacific time. (1pm to 5pm EST)

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*What is the HOPE Telethon?

H=Helping people with special challenges

O=Orphaned cats and dogs finding safe haven

P=Parents and children learning about sharing the earth

E=Educating shelters about “the business of saving lives”

According to the website:

“Each year Helen Woodward Animal Center reaches 10,000 animals and 50,000 children and adults with our unique programs, but we need your help to make it happen. The HOPE Telethon will be broadcasted live on KUSI – TV 9/51 on November 13th, 2010 from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. to raise funds for the Center’s many beneficial programs. Tune in or come visit us at the Center.”

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