Nutro Wins Top Award at PIDA Conference
Nutro Products Inc. (City of Industry, Calif.) was named Supplier of the Year during the Pet Industry Distributors Association’s annual meeting and management conference, held Feb. 9-12 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Coastal Pet Products Inc. (Alliance, Ohio) was first runner-up for the prestigious award, and Midwest Homes for Pets (Muncie, Ind.) was second runner-up...

Pet Franchises Get High Marks
Six pet-related franchises found spots on this year’s Entrepreneur Franchise 500, providing further evidence that the pet industry is a growth area worth watching...

PetsMart Endows Faculty Chair
The founding and current chief executives of PetsMart Inc. (Phoenix) have established a new faculty chair at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business in Bloomington, Ind., where both executives earned advanced degrees...

NRF Predicts Modest Retail Sales Growth
Sales for general merchandise, apparel, furniture, home furnishings, electronics, appliances, sporting goods, hobby, book and music stores will increase a scant 3.5 percent in 2005, according to a new report by the National Retail Federation (Washington) in January...

Ferret Sales Under Fire in Maryland
The most restrictive legislation yet regarding the sale of ferrets in Maryland was introduced in February and stands a good chance of passing, according to the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council (Washington)...

Illinois Pet Retailers Face New Requirements
Legislation introduced in February would turn pet shop operators into “animal caretakers” under Illinois law, according to the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council (Washington)...

AAFCO Reviews Standards
Feed safety standards, use of the USDA-inspected seal on pet foods and carbohydrate claims on labels captured the attention of feed officials during the Association of American Feed Control Officials’ mid-year meeting, according to the American Pet Product Manufacturers Association (Greenwich, Conn.)...

USDA Creates Organic Pet Food Task Force
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is assembling a task force of nutrition specialists, suppliers and other experts to develop proposed organic labeling standards for pet food, according to the American Pet Product Manufacturers Association (Greenwich, Conn.)...

Retailers Focus on Supply Chain Efficiency
More retailers will adopt technology solutions to use customer information in ways that improve supply chain efficiency in 2005, according to new research by the NRF Foundation (Washington) and BearingPoint Inc. (McLean, Va.)...

See Spot Fly
Now pets are eligible for top-notch travel perks, just like their owners: Chicago-based United Airlines and Milwaukee-based Midwest Airlines are offering bonus miles to customers whose pets fly with them...

Top Dog Writers Honored
Cheryl S. Smith, author of The Rosetta Bone, won the Pro Plan President’s Award for best publication of the year in the annual writing competition held by the Dog Writers Association of America (Coatesville, Pa.). Smith’s book, published by Howell Book House (Hoboken, N.J.), was the top book in the training/behavior category and also won a special award from Radio Systems Corp. (Knoxville, Tenn.) for best training publication...

Top Cat Writers Honored
For the second time in three years, Steve Dale’s “My Pet World” column won the Friskies Publication of the Year Award in the annual writing competition held by the Cat Writers’ Association (Mesa, Ariz.)...

APPMA Management Conference Set for November
The American Pet Products Manufacturers Association (Greenwich, Conn.) will hold a management conference Nov. 9-10 at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas, Nev...