CHEWS HAPPINESS
Tavor White, CEO
Boulder, Colo.
After a trip to Bhutan, which measures
its country’s progress in Gross National
Happiness, a concept that focuses less on
making money and more on protecting the
environment, my wife and I moved to the Colorado mountains and brought a puppy named
Bouncer into our lives. When finding safe,
high-quality dog products with “good vibes”
proved difficult, we got an idea: Why not start
working with the Bhutanese and create great
products that promote happiness?
We work very closely and collaboratively with our extremely talented artists. We
create new supply chains and are intimately
involved in product design, microloan
financing, equipment procurement, material
specification and qualification, and handmade fabrication scale-up.
All of our dog creations are handcrafted
in Bhutan from luxurious yak down. Working
with partners in a developing country 8,000
miles away is not easy, but we now employ
eight to 10 Bhutanese women master weavers and knitters who would not otherwise
have a source of income. We provide them
a means to support their families, empower
them by providing them with their own
source of fairly traded incomes and enable
them to maintain their traditional woven arts.
CENTRAL GARDEN & PET CO.
Kevin Jones, senior brand
manager, pet health and wellness
Walnut Creek, Calif.
We teamed up with Code 3 Associates Inc.,
a 501(c)( 3) nonprofit dedicated to providing
professional animal disaster response
and resources to communities, to protect
animals during disasters. From April 1, 2016,
through Sept. 30, 2016, for each bottle of
Adams Shampoos and Adams Sprays sold by
retailers in the U. S., Central Garden & Pet, the
makers of Adams Flea & Tick Control, donated
$1 to Code 3 to help animals in need during
times of disasters—up to $150,000.
Code 3 has conducted recognized
animal-related disaster and law enforcement
training throughout the U. S. for more than
25 years and provides professional technical
animal rescue and recovery to communities
affected by man-made or natural disasters.
FIDOBIOTICS
Aden Hirtle, digital
marketing specialist
Ogden, Utah
This year marks our second year supporting the Humane Society of Utah by
providing a gift basket for its annual Wags
to Wishes Gala, which raises funds to
support the society.
We also support Best Friends Animal
Society and its annual Strut Your Mutt cam-
paign in Salt Lake City. Last year, as an event
sponsor, Fidobiotics provided 300 product
samples for gift bags and donated 100 boxes
of product for giveaways.
We’ve also donated over 300 samples of
our Immuno Boosto line to the Animal Shelter
of the Wood River Valley and the Animal Care
Center in West Bountiful, Utah, to help dogs
who might be experiencing allergies, food-
related illnesses and/or seasonal ailments.
During the holidays, we will donate more
than 200 units of Good Guts and 200 units
of Immuno Boosto to the Humane Society
of Utah.
FLUFF & TUFF
Ellen Lawson, owner
Bloomfield, Mich.
We give back through product donations and
our annual holiday charity toy. Organizations
have included Peace and Paws, Start a Snowball, Montgomery County Shelter in Maryland,
The Ronald McDonald House of Western
Washington and Alaska, The Fix Foundation
and The Barking Lot Rescue/Shelter. We just
debuted our fourth annual Holiday Charity
Toy: the Candy Cane.
The toy is available from October 2016 to
January 2017 through our independent retail
partners, and we donate 100 percent of the
profits from the sale of these toys through
the Fluff & Tuff Charitable Foundation, whose
mission is to make a big difference for small
organizations that are committed to helping
animals in need.
HIKARI SALES USA INC.
Chris Clevers, president
Hayward, Calif.
We are strong supporters of Pets in the
Classroom because we feel that investing in
exposing kids to aquatics, as well as other
pets, provides a fantastic opportunity to not
only impact the lives of children in a positive
way by exposing them to animals and to
nature, but also to, in a grassroots way, bring
more people in to aquariumkeeping. It’s a true
investment for the long-term future.
When it comes to support, we provide
funds, product and volunteer hours. Exclusive
of industry organizations, we are the largest
cash donator to Pets in the Classroom. We
donate product that brings donations that
help us donate more funds to Pets in the
Classroom, and we donate our staff’s time in
a big way to make this program a success.
INTERNATIONAL
VETERINARY SCIENCES
Ara Bohchalian, CEO
Anaheim, Calif.
This year our giveback focus has been on
providing K9 police officer dogs and military
working dogs (MWDs) with proper supplement programs.
IVS has sponsored an ongoing, 12-month
supplement program for multiple Southern
California active duty police K9 units in
addition to the U.S. War Dog Association,
where we donated more than $11,000—or
40 cases—to these brave MWDs coming off
of active duty and in need of all the support
and health benefits they can get.
We currently are in talks to expand our
giveback program to other military dog associations and police K9 divisions throughout
the country.
KRISER’S NATURAL PET
Brad Kriser, founder and CEO
Multiple locations in California,
Colorado, Illinois and Texas
Our amazing Kriser’s customers, and the
Kriser’s Pack, raised $20,000 and used it to
help Wings of Rescue send off four Freedom
Flights of dogs and cats to communities
and no-kill shelters with the space and need
for adoptable friends. Wings of Rescue is a
nonprofit organization, supported entirely
from donations, and in May, hundreds of our
customers chose to round up their transactions to the nearest dollar in order to support
the program.
NORDIC NATURALS
Jackie Hansmann, marketing
Watsonville, Calif.
During Q3, we partnered with a Los Angeles
school and Carter’s Kids—a nonprofit
organization founded by TV personality Carter
Oosterhouse that is dedicated to creating
and promoting awareness of fitness and
self-esteem for America’s youth as a way to
encourage healthy play and activity—to build
a playground.
This quarter, we are partnering again
with Paws and Stripes, a 501(c)( 3) nonprofit
organization based in New Mexico that delivers comprehensive and lifelong support to
our veterans while saving the lives of shelter
dogs that would otherwise face euthanasia.
NULO PET FOOD
Jeremy Humble, vice president of
brand and marketing
Austin, Texas
Throughout 2016, Nulo will donate 10 meals
of pet food to a local animal shelter for every
ace that Nulo ambassador John Isner serves
at select ATP World Tour events. He ranked
2nd in 2015 on the ATP World Tour for 1,260
aces served. To say the least, Isner’s dominant serve is one of the toughest in the world
to return, and Nulo is going to be giving away
a lot of pet food.
OXBOW ANIMAL HEALTH
Deann Venditte, marketing
coordinator
Murdock, Neb.
Since the mid-1990s, Oxbow Animal Health
has provided a discount on its feeds to
rescue organizations through its Oxbow
Cares program. Since 2001, we have awarded
monetary funding through the Oxbow Rescue
Grant program to organizations seeking
medical support, feeding needs, educational
programs and building renovations.
In addition to the programs available to
rescue organizations, we proudly supply them
with product support, literature, community
outreach and professional advice on nutrition.
PETSAFE/RADIO SYSTEMS CORP.
Tracy Mulder, marketing manager
for PetSafe brand
Knoxville, Tenn.
Last year PetSafe contributed more than
$3.5 million in volunteer support, grants and
product donations to organizations working
to improve animal welfare or youth education.
Other charitable works include:
• $100,000 and thousands of products
donated to U. S. shelters last year
• A team of PetSafe associates dedicates
countless hours to organize the annual Knox-
ville K9 Cancer Walk and PetSafe Black Tie
& Tails Gala, which supports Morris Animal
Foundation
• The PetSafe Shelter Product Program
sends products to qualifying animal rescue
groups in the greater Knoxville area
• Since 2014, PetSafe brand has donated
more than $20,000 to Peaceful Kingdom for
the Go North Transport Collaborative
• Last year, the PetSafe Philanthropy
Committee donated over half a million dollars
and 160,000 products to pet welfare causes
in the U. S. and around the world
P.L.A. Y. (PET LIFESTYLE
AND YOU)
Natalie Hennessy, public
relations and integrated
marketing manager
San Francisco
From working directly with local shelters to
donating products through our Warm Bellies
Initiative with the Petfinder Foundation and
contributing to fundraising event efforts,
animal welfare always has been a staple of
our business.
P. L.A. Y. gives back in a variety of ways
including funds, products and volunteer
hours. Currently, 2 percent of the purchase
price from our Under the Sea Toy Collection
and Bugging Out Toy Collection benefits the
International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).
In our newest partnership with ZERO—The
End of Prostate Cancer, we donate 10
percent ( 20 percent during the month of
November) of the purchase price from our
Mustache Beds to help end prostate cancer
by advancing research, encouraging action,
and providing education and support to men
and their families.
Our Scholars Helping Collars Scholarship,
now in its fourth year, awards one high school
student who can best describe the impact
he or she made in the life of a rescue animal
or animal welfare cause a $1,000 scholarship
toward their college education.
Our team also volunteers annually within
our local community. For example, we host
bi-annual adoption events with Muttville
Senior Dog Rescue, a local rescue in San
Francisco, at our headquarters. With every
adoption, we give away a free eco-friendly
round or rectangle pet bed.
RADAGAST PET FOOD
Tracey Hatch-Rizzi, co-founder and
vice president
Portland, Ore.
Radagast supports WildCat Ridge Sanctuary,
a 501(c)( 3) nonprofit, no-kill, “last hope”
sanctuary in Scotts Mills, Ore.
We support the incredible work they do,
providing beautiful lifetime homes for captive
and abused wildcats. They have rescued hundreds of wildcats and hybrids that have the
most amazing, and often very sad, histories.
We have donated several tons of food,
both Rad Cat and other meat products, to
help keep the big (and small) cats fed. They
also have a yearly fundraiser that we happily
provide monetary support for because they
rely solely on fundraising and donations.
Leading the Charge for Charity
The pet industry’s compassion and
generosity extends to programs for
animals as well as their environment
and the humans who love them.
To read more Paw It Forward
coverage, please go to page 58
of the USA Marketplace.
A young cougar developed feline
panleukopenia, or distemper, and refused
to eat anything but Rad Cat Turkey. Caden
is now 10 years old and beautiful, with
slight nerve damage from the illness.
Kriser’s raised $20,000 to help Wings of Rescue send off four Freedom Flights.
At one of P.L.A. Y.’s (Pet Lifestyle And You)
bi-annual adoption events with Muttville
Senior Dog Rescue