PhilaPets.com Newsletter: November 2008
PhilaPets News and Information
2009 PhilaPets.com Calendar Contest -- Entries due December 5th!
Make your furry loved one a superstar!
It's time for our eagerly anticipated annual PhilaPets Calendar Contest! To enter, send us your cutest, funniest, or sweetest photos of your pet.
The top twelve pet pictures will receive a free calendar with their pet's picture and three free pet visits. Not to mention that your photogenic furry one will grace the walls of over 1000 PhilaPets households and several local businesses! The best photo will not only become the 2009 Cover Pet (like Bailey here was for 2008) but will also receive five free pet visits!
Entries can be sent to calendar@philapets.com. The pictures will be blown up and printed on the top page of the calendar so please be sure to send pictures in landscape orientation and high-resolution, at least 1024 x 768.
Entries must be received no later than Friday, December 5th, 2008. Winners will be announced in the December newsletter (due out around December 15th).
Also, if you or your company is interested in advertising in the calendar, please let us know and we can send you more details.
All entries become property of PhilaPets.com and may be used in future marketing campaigns.
See Cover Boy Bailey, and the other winners from 2008
Thanksgiving & Holiday Services
Thanksgiving is just around the corner and we are pretty close to capacity. We have turned off holiday scheduling on the Web site so that we can actively manage the Thanksgiving requests.
If you are in need of some pet assistance, please call us at (215) 893-0894. We will do our best to accommodate your requests.
Also, the winter holidays are right around the corner as well so be sure to book soon to reserve your spot!
PhilaPets.com contributes to wildly successful PAWS Mutt Strut
The drizzly October weather did not stop Team PhilaPets.com and hundreds of other animal enthusiasts from participating in the 2nd Annual PAWS Mutt Strut on October 25th in FDR Park. Every adoptable PAWS mutt was "rented" for the 1.5 mile scenic stroll, immediately identified by the bright orange "adopt me!" jackets.
More than 600 dogs partook in the event, some just as prepared as their human companions for the wet weather, donning colorful doggie rain gear. The Strut, organized in the hopes of increasing funds and awareness for PAWS' lifesaving activities on behalf of Philadelphia's homeless, abandoned, and unwanted animals, raised nearly $85,000.00. Thanks to the support of our pet parents and friends, Team PhilaPets was able to raise $2,380.00 for this event! To learn more about the Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society or to make a donation to PAWS, visit their website at www.phillypaws.org.
Announcing Our Newest Managers!
Miriam Fernandez and Amy Melvin are PhilaPets' new Weekend Managers.
These busy ladies work full time jobs Monday through Friday and then dedicate their weekend time to providing our Pet Parents with all their scheduling and pet care needs.
Miriam has been with PhilaPets since December of 2006 and works full-time as a veterinary technician at The Cat Doctor. Amy has worked for PhilaPets since May of 2008 and is a student art teacher in the Philadelphia School District.
Pet Health
Life-Saving Transplant For Dogs
Doctors performed a life-saving transplant operation in University City in Philadelphia, but neither the donor nor recipient was human.
Kidney transplants in dogs are so rare, only two institutions in the country perform them, the University of Georgia and the facility at Matt J. Ryan Veterinarian Hospital.
About an hour after kidney transplant surgery, Tony, a 14-month-old bull terrier, was doing well and so was her donor sister, Zanzy.
Pet Travel
Philadelphia's Pet Friendly Hotels
Pet lovers are crazy about their animal companions and spend more than $40 billion a year in the U.S. on pet services and accouterments to prove it. For those who love to spoil their pet but hate to leave him behind while traveling, the Philadelphia region proves to be the "purr-fect" getaway. Pet-friendly hotels, restaurants and retail shops welcome visitors and their animal companions in the city and its suburbs.
PhilaPets can help local travelers with pets at any of the six major pet friendly hotels in the city. Just ask the concierge for pet sitting services provided by PhilaPets.com when you book your stay.
- Four Seasons Hotel 1 Logan Square, (215) 963-1500
- Loews 1200 Market Street, (215) 627-1200
- Ritz-Carlton 10 Avenue of the Arts, (215) 523-8000
- Sheraton Society Hill One Dock Street, (215) 238-6000
- Sofitel 120 S. 17th Street, (215) 569-8300
- Westin 99 S. 17th Street, (215) 563-1600
Think Pawsitive!
Presidential Puppies
When Barack Obama promised in his presidential acceptance speech to get his daughters a puppy, it set off a flurry of speculation, particularly online, about just what kind of puppy the family would bring to the White House.
Some observers have made the case for their favorite breeds, while others said the president-elect should seek out a mutt. Many argued that Obama should set an example by getting the dog from a shelter instead of looking to a breeder.
United States Presidents have a long and storied history of owning dogs and keeping them by their side at the White House. PhilaPets' own Dan Stein writes for DogGuide.net, his recent story 20 Most Recent Presidential Pooches (& Other Pets) shows a pictorial recap of some memorable First Furries.