Commits $1 Million to Humane Alliance to Open State-of-the-Art National Spay/Neuter Training Center

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1 Fall 2008 Together We Save Lives Adoptions through PetSmart Charities Adoption Centers as of September 25, ,506,155 Emergency Relief Alert: During the busy Hurricane Season, we received numerous requests for assistance as potentially dangerous storms approached coastal communities. We are committed to providing Emergency Relief grants, and dispatching our Emergency Relief Waggin trucks to help the animal victims of disaster; however, we are not able to respond in advance (such as during evacuations). For post-disaster assistance, contact Barbara Fought at PetSmart Charities Commits $1 Million to Humane Alliance to Open State-of-the-Art National Spay/Neuter Training Center We are pleased to announce a $1 million commitment to Humane Alliance to help open the agency s state-of-the-art national spay/neuter training center in Ashville, N.C. PetSmart Charities Executive Director Susana Della Maddalena (left) pledges $1 million to Quita Mazzina, executive director of Humane Alliance, as PetSmart associates look on in Asheville, N.C. Emergency Relief Waggin Quickly Responds to Dangerous Summer Floods, Fires Imagine suddenly caring for nearly 1,000 stressed and confused dogs and cats in a temporary location and not having enough food bowls, litter pans or other basic supplies. That scenario was all too real for Sgt. Ken Choate of the Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Police Department as record rainfall pounded his state in June. Choate and his team headed up animal rescue efforts in their community during the midwest floods. As the water rose, so did the sense of urgency. They quickly found themselves operating a makeshift shelter for 996 dogs and cats, including displaced family pets and the animals from the city shelter, which had to be hastily evacuated. Our shelter was under 7 feet of water. The shelter, and everything in it, was a complete loss, Choate said. When the PetSmart Charities truck arrived, it was like the cavalry coming. It had everything we needed. It was fantastic! On June 13, PetSmart Charities sent the first of two truckloads of supplies via the Susana Della Maddalena, executive director of PetSmart Charities, announced the funding commitment on June 17, With this funding, Humane Alliance can expand its mentoring program and establish a training center where animal welfare organizations can send staff for highly specialized training. The center also enables Humane Alliance to provide video conferencing for veterinarians across the country. PetSmart Charities decision to fund the center was easy, Della Maddalena said. Humane Alliance has been a leader in changing the face of spay/neuter and in making high-quality, high-volume sterilization an accepted practice across the country, she said. (continued on page 3) Emergency Relief Waggin program to Cedar Rapids. We also assisted organizations in the City of Waverly, Iowa; the Brown County Humane Society in Indiana; and the Dodge County Humane Society in Wisconsin. More than $150,000 in pet supplies were put to good use and helped make the animal care efforts that much easier during a trying time. As the floods let up, fires broke out, scorching neighborhoods in northern California. Hundreds of families and their pets fled their homes for temporary shelters. In response, we dispatched an ER Waggin, stocked with an estimated $50,000 worth of pet supplies, from the Phoenix Distribution Center, to Oroville, Calif. The request for assistance came from Butte County Animal Control in northern California, where two temporary shelters were set up to house more than 500 pets. We also provided supplies to the SPCA of Monterey and to the all-volunteer North Valley Animal Disaster Group in Chico, Calif. (continued on page 4)

2 Bones of the Business Tips for building a strong organization Challenge: How is your agency perceived by the public? To help pets, you need to communicate effectively with people. Maybe you re even receiving complaints about how your staff and volunteers treat people during adoptions, surrenders, and on the telephone. Solution: Positive customer service is crucial to selling your agency effectively and winning support. It s difficult for the public to hear what you re saying when the message is delivered in ways they perceive as harsh, unclear or disrespectful. Remember: You depend on your community for support through adoptions, donations, and positive word-of-mouth. Start With Basic Courtesy How do you like to be treated when you ask a question of a service provider or business? The golden rule still holds true: Treat others as you would like to be treated. Courtesy is also a more effective strategy to get what YOU need: accurate information, an open ear for your message, and a supportive attitude rather than antagonism. Courtesy includes returning calls in a reasonable time (and fulfilling what your voice mail says you ll do). If you can t respond to s right away, set up an automatic response to explain when the writer can expect a reply. Every Interaction is Fresh Even if you ve had that conversation a million times, it s the first time for the other guy to ask that question, voice that concern, hear that myth busted, or comprehend those instructions. Don t assume that everybody knows what you know. On the other hand, there s a difference between being informative and being patronizing. Patience is a valuable resource. There is never enough to go around, but it s vital to your daily operations. Listen with a Stranger s Ear Just like any other specialized field, animal welfare uses terms and abbreviations that don t make sense to most people. Make an extra effort to use normal vocabulary when talking to the public. Sometimes the passion we have about our field leaks onto innocent bystanders in the forms of anger or accusation. Remember, it isn t that caller s fault that you ve had 50 frustrating conversations that day or that the summer months are so challenging in our field. Don t bash other animal agencies in your community; they offer important services, too. Rumors, misinformation, and ugly words will damage both agencies. Example: If you take your cat there, it means certain death OR Unfortunately, we re all just packed with cats at this time of year. That organization s open admission policy means that their staff often makes the difficult decision of euthanasia. If you are a supervisor, spend some time listening to how your staff and volunteers communicate, and have someone listen to you, too. We can all use a reminder now and then about how we re perceived by others. For more ideas and information about effective customer service in animal welfare, contact Kit Jenkins, Programs Manager, at kjenkins@petsmartcharities.org. New guidelines for spay/neuter are milestone achievement for controlling pet overpopulation How can we reduce the influx of homeless animals into our shelters and, ultimately, reduce euthanasia? One answer is surprisingly simple: provide affordable, high-quality, high-volume spay and neuter programs. A new set of guidelines for such sterilization programs is a must-read for those who now provide, or aspire to provide, such services. On July 1, the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association published The Association of Shelter Veterinarians Veterinary Medical Care Guidelines for Spay-Neuter Programs, a milestone in the animal welfare field. This historic set of guidelines compiled by a task force comprised of 22 academic, private and non-profit veterinarians from around the country highlights acceptable standards and sets the bar for performance for spay/neuter programs nationwide. The document can be downloaded as a PDF from the Humane Alliance Web site in its document library: alliance.org/ha2/doclib.htm. The Association of Shelter Veterinarians (ASV) ( convened the task force with funding provided by PetSmart Charities and The ASPCA. The goal was to advance high-quality, high-volume spay/neuter services with the ultimate goal of reducing the number of unwanted and homeless animals that are euthanized in U.S. shelters each year. Spay/Neuter Resources for Pet Parents and Animal Agencies: The ASPCA and PetSmart Charities offer valuable spay/neuter resources. To find a spay-neuter clinic in your area, use the searchable database on the ASPCA s website at sndatabase. If your organization wants to start a high-volume spay/neuter clinic, visit for information about grant funding. No other disease or condition of companion animals takes as many lives as euthanasia. In fact, no other disease comes close. Janet M. Scarlett, DVM, MPH, PhD, Cornell University, and task force member 2

3 PetSmart Charities Commits $1 Million (continued from cover) The new, 13,000-square-foot building houses a spay/neuter clinic and has six surgery suites including three for training and flexible classroom space. The new center will enable Humane Alliance to provide annual training for veterinarians and veterinary technicians, and perform up to 250 sterilization surgeries for cats and dogs from western North Carolina each day. Through Humane Alliance s mentorship, spay/neuter surgical teams will learn how to deliver high-quality, high-volume surgical sterilizations. Organizations will also discover the steps to opening and managing a self-sustaining spay/neuter clinic in their community. We currently have 35 groups seeking admittance to this specialized training program, and more groups call every week, said Quita Mazzina, executive director of Humane Alliance. With a national training center, we can help groups make proven choices about how to open and operate their clinics. We can shorten the learning curve and help groups establish best practices and achieve a higher volume of surgeries right from the start. The success of their mentoring program can be measured in the number of dogs and cats no longer reproducing. To date, clinics mentored by Humane Alliance have collectively sterilized more than 250,000 dogs and cats nationwide. Because euthanasia is the No. 1 killer of dogs and cats in this country causing more deaths than any disease we believe the best solution to the homeless petoverpopulation problem is aggressive spay/neuter programs, Mazzina said. We are thrilled to have PetSmart Charities Veterinary Assistant Melissa Bragg readies a dog for sterilization surgery at the Humane Alliance facility, where up to 250 dogs and cats can be spayed or neutered daily. support to open this groundbreaking training center. We are determined to overcome the tragedy of euthanasia here in our community and across the nation. To learn more about our commitment to enhancing, improving and expanding spay/neuter efforts, visit To learn more about Humane Alliance and how to take advantage of its groundbreaking training opportunities, visit or call (828) An Important Reminder for Our Adoption Partners We are proud to help you with your adoption programs by providing Adoption Rewards for adoptions that are initiated in PetSmart stores. As you know, Adoption Rewards are checks from PetSmart Charities cut six times every year to help offset the expenses you incur as you prepare pets for adoption. But how do we get those checks to you, and how can you make sure that they re accurate? It all rests on those crucial Adoption Release forms. Whether you are a veteran or a newcomer to this program, please take a moment to review the Adoption Rewards process. The Adoption Rewards process depends on the accurate scanning of each Adoption Release form into the store s computer system at the cash register. The scan connects the date and the adoption to your PetSmart group number in the computer. Fill out each form legibly and completely when an adoption is completed. Adoption Release forms are valid only for adoptions initiated in the store (that means the adopter met the pet at the PetSmart store). Your agency s representative, or a PetSmart associate, should escort each new adopter to the store s cash register to ensure that the Adoption Release form is scanned. It s important that you scan your forms right away, since the opportunity for error increases when many forms are scanned together. Keep the agency copy of the form for your records, and the store will keep its own copy for six months. If the adoption started at the store but was completed off-site, bring the Adoption Release form to the store manager to validate. It can then be scanned into the cash register. When each fiscal quarter ends, a computer report is generated for all stores. Each store manager compares the report with the store copies of your Adoption Release forms. The edited report is sent to our offices in Phoenix where the checks are calculated and processed. If you find that the numbers on your Adoption Rewards check stub differ from your records, your first step is to contact your store manager to compare your Adoption Release form copies (that comparison is necessary before we can issue any correction checks). After you have conferred with your manager, he or she will contact us to discuss a correction check. Since the stores are only able to retain their form copies for six months, we are not able to research a correction check after that time has passed. Have you applied for increased Adoption Rewards? Almost half of our Adoption Partners have not applied for this opportunity. You can increase the automatic $5 per adoption to $10 (when you can demonstrate that your agency s pets are sterilized) or $15 (if you also show that you have a pro-active follow-up program for all adopted pets). If you don t yet have these programs in place, we want to help you achieve those goals. Check out our recorded webinar on this topic at petsmartcharities.webex.com, or ask us to you information about how to start (or improve) pre-adoption spay/neuter and adoption follow-up programs. Patricia Lerma is our new Administrative Assistant for the Adoption Rewards program. If you have questions about the logistics of the program or about an Adoption Rewards check, her at plerma@petsmartcharities.org or call , Ext

4 Emergency Relief Waggin aids more than 1,000 dogs from puppy mills in Tennessee, Virginia Stocked with donated supplies to help scores of animals in need, our Emergency Relief Waggin fulfilled its mission of providing much-needed help during man-made disasters during two rescues from puppy mills. One deployment was to a massive breeding operation in Hillsville, VA in November There, authorities seized 1,080 small-breed dogs who reportedly lived in deplorable conditions. More recently, in June 2008, the ER Waggin was deployed to Lyles, Tenn., the site of a commercial breeding operation where almost 700 dogs and other companion animals were removed because of alleged violations to Tennessee s animal-cruelty laws. Puppy mills are low quality,large-scale breeding operations. Hundreds of dogs (usually purebred) are repeatedly bred to produce puppies for sale to consumers, many of whom don t know about the terrible conditions. When authorities are alerted, dozens of puppies and dogs must be seized, and that can put a strain on any organization s resources. The situations in Hillsville and Lyles were just two of the man-made emergencies that qualified for an Emergency Relief Waggin deployment in the last 12 months. Having the ER Waggin arrive on site fast benefited the pets and rescuers alike. Because the majority of supplies were made available to the agencies when these rescues began, the length of time the animals were Summer Floods, Fires (continued from cover) It was a busy summer for our Emergency Relief Waggin program, but we are thrilled to know that we could provide a significant source of assistance, said Susana Della Maddalena, executive director of PetSmart Charities. These situations are the very reason why we established the Emergency Relief Waggin program. Our goal is to help the animal victims of natural and manmade disasters. The program consists of six, 53-foot semi-trailers pre-loaded with donated emergency supplies such as crates, bowls, leashes, collars, litter, food, tents, fans, a in transition, and under great stress, was reduced, said Barbara Fought, PetSmart Charities program manager for the ER Waggin Program. Fought has advice for any animal-welfare or law-enforcement agency that might be faced with this type of situation: Assess the situation as best you can to determine how many companion animals might be involved, and also to determine the type of assistance that PetSmart Charities might be able to provide. There are two types of common situations, she said. When there are 50 or more companion animals removed from a cruel or neglectful situation, the agency might qualify for assistance with supplies and/or funding for medical care. If the situation is of such a large scale that 350 or more companion animals are impacted, the agency should contact us to discuss whether an ER Waggin is appropriate. As the motto says, we truly are driven to save pets lives. The Emergency Relief Waggin was on scene to assist with a large-scale puppy mill rescue in Tennessee. generator, and various other emergencyrelated items to care for up to 500 pets. The trailers are strategically stationed at various PetSmart distribution centers throughout the U.S. They can be ready for dispatch to the designated lead agency responding to a disaster at any location in the continental U.S. within hours of an approved request. For assistance, the lead animal-welfare, law-enforcement or other responding agency should call our Manager of Emergency Grants at PETS ext To learn more, visit ERinAction.php. 4 Susana Della Maddalena Executive Director sdellamaddalena@petsmartcharities.org Monica Neal Director of Grants and Programs mneal@petsmartcharities.org Jan Elliott Director of Philanthropy jelliott@petsmartcharities.org Susan Gulig Director of Financial Operations sgulig@petsmartcharities.org For newsletter information: Kim Noetzel Communication Manager knoetzel@petsmartcharities.org Trish Spencer Communications Representative tspencer@petsmartcharities.org For state grants: Jeannine Alexander jalexander@petsmartcharities.org Brenda Najera Administrative Assistant bnajera@petsmartcharities.org For emergency relief information: Barbara Fought Manager of Emergency Grants bafought@petsmartcharities.org For conference sponsorships and agency program coaching: Kit Jenkins kjenkins@petsmartcharities.org For spay/neuter capacity-building grants: Carol Moulton (western U.S.) cmoulton@petsmartcharities.org Aimee St. Arnaud (eastern U.S.) astarnaud@petsmartcharities.org For webinar/blog information: Robin Mason Technology and Education Manager rmason@petsmartcharities.org Suzy Hayton Administrative Assistant shayton@petsmartcharities.org For the In-Store Adoptions program: Julie Schmaltz Adoptions Manager jschmaltz@ssg.petsmart.com Anita Garcia Manager of Adoptions agarcia@ssg.petsmart.com Mindy Sather Adoptions Facilitator msather@ssg.petsmart.com For adoption rewards: Patricia Lerma Administrative Assistant plerma@petsmartcharities.org For Rescue Waggin information: Carol Moulton cmoulton@petsmartcharities.org

5 Lifesaving Volunteers This could be your volunteer! Submit stories to us and if selected, your organization will win a one-time award of $500 in honor of your special volunteer. Send your nominations and supporting photos to tspencer@petsmartcharities.org. A nomination form is now available under the Animal Welfare Agencies section of our Web site at Rebecca Battoe Mercer County Humane Society Spay/Neuter Clinic Harrodsburg, Kentucky When the Mercer County Humane Society opened a low-cost, high-quality spay/ neuter clinic in June 2007, one volunteer in particular took a lead role in helping to keep the clinic operating at maximum Rebecca Battoe impact. Rebecca Battoe can be found 24/7 working at the clinic performing the following jobs as needed: scheduling surgery, checking in patients, cleaning and organizing instruments, and comforting and caring for dogs and cats in the pre- and post-operative rooms. Rebecca is always there to fill any void on any given day. What keeps Rebecca motivated? She replies, I d rather plug all the holes rather than constantly bail out the leaky boat! In her spare time, Rebecca can be found raising money for the clinic, and helping people who cannot afford to spay or neuter their pets find ways to do it. She also makes the time to foster and care for many homeless pets as they wait for their forever homes, which she also helps them find. Says co-volunteer Theresa Lyons, She picks up every cat or kitten in the clinic and gives it special loving. If she sees one out loose in the world, she will rescue it. I went through a local drive-through restaurant one night and there was Rebecca down on her knees looking through the shrubs. I asked her what she was doing and she told me she saw a kitten down there. So I parked my car to help her find it, otherwise she would have been there all night! That is the kind of person she is. Catherine Dobbs, a veterinary technician at the clinic, describes Rebecca as the glue at our clinic. She volunteers so much time, Dobbs says, because she realizes our goal is so important and will make a difference in the numbers of animals in the shelters. Julie R. Coon, Spay/Neuter Committee Chairwoman for the Mercer County Humane Society Spay/Neuter Clinic, agrees. Since the inception of the idea of opening a low-cost spay/neuter clinic in our county, Rebecca has been a driving force and a staunch advocate of the benefits of altering pets to stop over-population, she says. Ray Allen Buffalo Companion Animal Network (CANS) Buffalo, New York Ray Allen has been a volunteer for Buffalo CAN s AniMeals program since September That s when the school he worked for was approached to assist with the program, which provides free dog and cat food to Buffalo-area senior citizens who have pets. Ray Allen Ray immediately volunteered to manage this new activity, with the help of his developmentally disabled students who are part of the Basic Employment Skills Training (B.E.S.T.) program at Erie I BOCES High School. The program is vital to house-bound seniors, primarily elderly women, who have only their pets for company. Rosanne Higgins, vice president of AniMeals, states emphatically, We could not run this program without Ray Allen. Ray works tirelessly supervising the packaging of food for pets on a route that serves 80 animals. He teaches his students to open the large dog food bags, weigh the food for packaging on a postal scale, and then pack and seal the totes in which the food is stored. Ray goes to the AniMeals headquarters twice each month and picks up 500 pounds of pet food for about 1,120 meals and then takes it to a classroom where his students repackage it. He then reloads the repackaged food into his car and takes it to Meals on Wheels for delivery. Never once have I heard him complain about how heavy the 50-pound bags are, or how often he loads and unloads 500 pounds of pet food in a single delivery, says Higgins. He is always good-natured and a pleasure to work with. Elizabeth Schreiber, program coordinator for Erie 1 BOCES B.E.S.T. program, says, Ray is always willing to help people out no matter what they need. He is always upbeat and encouraging, and keeps things running smoothly. Ray is an invaluable part of our B.E.S.T. program. For many on his route, Ray delivers more than pet food; he also delivers hope and happiness. Thank you, Ray. Good people will be remembered as a blessing, says Deirdre Slaughter, one of the petfood recipients on his route. It s people like you who give people like me faith that there s still a lot of true goodness in the world. 5

6 Luv-A-Pet Ornaments Nov. 3 Dec. 24 The Luv-A-Pet ornament program celebrates its 10th year. The 2008 ornaments are hand-painted resin and are designed exclusively for PetSmart Charities. Each ornament will be sold in all U.S. and Canadian PetSmart stores and online at PetSmart.com for a $10 donation. What a great way to help pets find homes! North 27 th Ave., Phoenix, AZ NON PROFIT ORG US POSTAGE PAID PHOENIX, AZ PERMIT #804 Holiday Wrapping Paper Nov. 3 Dec. 24 Our 2008 Holiday wrapping paper features the hand painted artwork of Georg Williams (www. georgwilliams.com). Two cat and two dog designs will be available, with each package containing one 20x30 sheet of wrapping paper and more than $10 in coupons for PEDIGREE,DentaStix Whiskas, or Temptations products. The paper will be sold in all U.S. and Canadian PetSmart stores and online at PetSmart.com for $1, with 100 percent of proceeds helping homeless pets throughout North America. This program is sponsored by Mars Pet Care, the maker of PEDIGREE, Whiskas, Temptations and Schmackos. Wish Tree Nov. 25 Dec. 29 in U.S. Nov. 3 - Dec.29 in Canada Wish Tree helps homeless pets during the holidays. Pet Parents when checking out, simply select the amount ($5 - $20) they want to give to help homeless pets. They can also make a PIN Pad donation at the register (U.S. stores only). Gifts made to PetSmart Charities benefit our active Adoption Partners at each PetSmart store! Nature s Best and PetSmart Charities Nov. 3 Dec. 24 For the second year, we are teaming up with Hill s Science Diet Nature s Best to raise up to $200,000 to help hundreds of homeless pets. For every bag of Science Diet Nature s Best dog or cat dry pet food purchased, we will receive a $10 donation. Webinars Charity Navigator designates PetSmart Charities as a Four Star charity, its highest ranking for efficient use of donations( We want YOU to understand Uncle Sam s new 990 requirements. The Internal Revenue Service has completely revised and revamped IRS Form 990, effective for 2008 returns filed in It is imperative that your organization prepare to address the new questions and disclosures effectively and begin to think about how this will impact your organization and your Board of Directors. Brenda Blunt, Tax Director, CBIZ Accounting Tax & Advisory Services, recently presented a PetSmart Charities webinar on the changes to the 990 form. This very popular session was recorded and is now available for viewing anytime. To access the recording and a draft of the new 990 form, visit our blog at: webinars/?q=taxonomy/term/110. SAVE THE DATE Conferences PetSmart Charities believes in professionalzing the field of animal welfare. In the next few months, we re sponsoring training events at: Banff Summit for Urban Animal Strategies Banff, Alberta, Canada 10/15 Spay USA National Spay/Neuter Conference Chicago, Ill. 10/16 Empire State Animal Protection Forum Fairport, N.Y. 10/23 Golden Rescue Educational Conference Chicago, Ill. 10/23 North Carolina Animal Control Conference Atlantic Beach, N.C. 10/27 Texas Animal Control Conference Farmer s Branch, TX 11/2 SAWA Annual Conference Scottsdale, Ariz. 11/9 Animal Grantmakers Conference New York, NY 11/16 Toronto Feral Cat Project Workshop Toronto, Ontario, Canada Curious about the best ways to care for cats? Feline Forum: Practices and New Perspectives September 24-26, 2009 Chicago, Ill. We re pleased to present this innovative national conference which will focus on the many needs of our feline friends in the shelter system. Join us as we discuss best practices for caring for the millions of cats and kittens who end up in shelters each year. We ll share ideas as we explore methods to help these felines find lifelong, loving homes. Program information will be available on our Web site in April PetSmart Charities, Inc. All rights reserved.