RSPCA: Lethal litter
Wild birds and animals are suffering and dying due to casually dropped litter and discarded fishing line and hooks. That’s the stark message from the RSPCA in the West Midlands as the charity makes a plea for people to clean up their act.
Not a week goes by without RSPCA officers being called out to rescue birds and animals that are painfully suffering due to the thoughtless actions of litter louts.
Recent casualties have included a dead coot caught in fishing line, a duck with fishing line wrapped around its body and leg, and a baby hedgehog stuck in the wire of a champagne cork.
Animal Friends Pet Insurance
January 22, 2009 by admin
Filed under Animal Friends
From the Animal Friends Website:
Animal Friends Pet Insurance is your ethical choice; whether you require a policy for a dog or cat you can get a quote online or call us for your pet insurance quote over the phone. We are the only UK pet insurance business to donate 100% of our net profits to help animal charities worldwide.
Our revew:
Insure your pet and give money to a good cause at the same time. If you are looking for an ethical company to insure with this may be the right choice.
Click here to get a quote from Animal Friends
Pet Owners Splurge on Premium, Fortified Food for Animal Companions
The premiumization trend in the global pet food market indicates that pet owning consumers are as willing to spend more on premium food infused with health fortifying ingredients such as glucosamine, omega fatty acids, antioxidants, and probiotics for their pets as they are for themselves.
Premium pet foods cover all bases — from natural/organic to functional/nutraceutical to special diet (segmented by lifestage, weight, health condition, breed, etc.) to gourmet — while also often reflecting trends in human foods.
Driven by premiumization the global pet food market reached an estimated $49 billion in 2008, according to market research publisher Packaged Facts in the all-new report, “Pet Food in the U.S.: Health, Humanization and High Quality Ingredients in an Increasingly Value-Driven Global Market, 8th Edition.” The 2008 global total marked a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of almost 5% for the preceding five-year period.
North America accounted for the largest share of global pet food sales in 2008 with 40%. “Particularly in the United States, the premiumization trend goes beyond the tendency Americans have to be better educated about health and nutrition issues. In addition, the pervasive humanization dynamic cannot be underestimated. Pet owners often view their pets as part of the family, or even as surrogate ‘children.’ Thus they are looking for the safest and healthiest products possible,” says Tatjana Meerman, Publisher of Packaged Facts.
“Pet Food in the U.S.: Health, Humanization and High Quality Ingredients in an Increasingly Value-Driven Global Market, 8th Edition” examines the global pet food market (sales overall and by world region, marketer shares, new product trends, U.S. export trends, etc.); strategic directions for current and prospective marketers; high-growth product segments; and trends in pet food purchaser demographics and lifestyle pursuits (media and marketing psychographics, Internet usage, “green” involvement, etc.). The report has separate chapters each discussing food for dogs, cats, and other companion animals. For further information visit: http://www.packagedfacts.com/Pet-Food-1653956/.
Pets Key To Finding Love
Want to know what really makes a woman purr? Take a closer look at her pet. Research published by The Blue Cross reveals that women look for the same qualities in a pet as those that they seek in a human partner.
Injured pets raise cat trap fears
Cat owners at Sheringham fear that two pets that have died with horrific injuries could be the victims of illegally- placed traps.
Black cat Sam managed to drag himself home with parts of two front legs missing, but had to be put to sleep by a vet because he was so badly hurt.
And the following day the body of another of his pets Merlin was found on a nearby railway track, with most of back leg missing.
RSPCA: Supermarkets back pigs campaign
Major retailers are already pledging their support to the RSPCA’s new ‘Rooting for pigs’ campaign, which is asking for clearer, more transparent labelling on pork products.
Asda, The Co-operative (Co-op), Marks and Spencer (M&S) and Sainsbury’s are the first to commit to clearer pork labelling definitions.
As part of its ‘Rooting for pigs’ campaign, the RSPCA is calling on supermarkets and other UK food retailers to work with the charity and the British pig industry to develop and sign up to a voluntary labelling agreement because there are currently no set definitions for pork product labelling.
An Important Change to Argos Pet Insurance
January 17, 2009 by admin
Filed under Pet Insurance
The following is a Press Release from Argos Pet Insurance
From 17th January 2009 Argos Pet Insurance will be underwritten by a new insurer – Agria International Forsakring AB. From this date all new policies and those renewing will be insured by Agria rather than the current insurer AXA Insurance.
Bolton, UK (PRWEB) January 17, 2009 — Agria is a relatively new name in the UK, so we thought you might appreciate some further information about this change.
Who are Agria International?
Agria International is a part of Agria Djurförsäkring, the number one pet insurer in Sweden. Both companies are subsidiaries of the leading insurance group in Sweden, the Länsforsäkringar Alliance.
Agria first started offering animal insurance in Sweden in 1890 so have over 100 years experience in this specialist area. They now operate in six European Countries.
They bought UK Based company PetPartners in 2007 and have started to underwrite a number of leading brands for pet insurance in the UK.
Why has Argos changed from AXA Insurance?
The Pet Insurance market is changing as insurance companies get more experience of the level of claims being made by customers. More sophisticated treatments are becoming available and the cost of treatment is increasing. This is putting pressure on insurers to raise their prices. Some companies, like AXA, offer pet insurance as part of a wide range of other insurance products, others like Agria concentrate on a specialist area. Argos felt that a change of insurer would benefit our customers in the long run, as a specialist pet insurer underwriting our product could help limit proposed price increases.
What difference does this make to customers?
There will be no noticeable difference to customers. The Argos pet insurance product remains unchanged with the same benefits and features as before. There is also no change in our policy towards payment of claims and our call centre remains the same and is based in the UK.
Is this dog cute?
Q: Is This Dog Cute or What?
Originally uploaded by nyominx
Pethealth Inc. Announces Dividend on Series I 6% Convertible Preference Shares
January 15, 2009 by admin
Filed under Pet Insurance
The Board of Directors of Pethealth Inc. (“Pethealth” or the “Company”) today announced that they declared a dividend of $0.12 per series I 6% convertible preference shares (the “Convertible Preference Shares”), payable on February 2, 2009 to the holders of record at the close of business on January 16, 2009.
On January 21, 2004, by way of private placement, Pethealth issued 5,000,000 Convertible Preference Shares. Holders of Convertible Preference Shares are entitled to receive cumulative dividends at the fixed rate of 6% per annum, equal to $0.12 per Convertible Preference Share.
About Pethealth
Founded in 1998, Pethealth is the second largest provider of pet insurance to pet owners in North America, and the leading provider of pet related database management services to the North American companion animal industry. Pethealth offers a unique range of products and services for veterinarians, shelters and pet owners through a number of wholly owned subsidiaries using a range of brand names, including PetCare, ShelterCare, QuickCare, 24PetWatch, PetPoint, and PawsConnect. The Company is also a leading provider of pet health insurance in the United Kingdom through its Pet Protect and petPals brands. Pethealth currently insures approximately 240,000 dogs and cats.
Reminder not to give leftovers to pets
Misguided kindness from owners will have seen many British dogs put on nearly half a stone in weight (6 pounds) over the festive season, putting them at risk of developing a number of serious illnesses including arthritis, diabetes and liver disease according to pet insurer MORE TH>N.