The Academy of Dog Grooming Arts (Arlington Heights, Ill.) helped provide a bullet- and stab-resistant vest for the Arlington Heights Police Department canine unit. To make the gift possible, the school’s students worked with Illinois Vest-a-Dog, a fund-raising organization. [September 2008 PET AGE]

The American Humane association (Englewood, Colo.) gave $12,500 to Paws and More Animal Shelter (Washington, Iowa), Cedar Valley Humane Society (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) and Friends of the Animal Center Foundation (Iowa City, Iowa) to provide emergency shelter and care for hundreds of animals displaced or rescued from floodwaters. AHA, working with the Animal Rescue League of Boston and International Fund for Animal Welfare (Yarmouth Port, Mass.), also set up a temporary shelter in Quincy, Ill., to help care for companion, farm and wild animals displaced by flooding. [September 2008 PET AGE]

The American Kennel Club (New York) and AKC Companion Animal Recovery donated crates, bowls, leashes, collars, harnesses, food and other supplies to temporary shelters at Kirkwood Community College (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) and the Johnson County 4-H Fairgrounds (Iowa City, Iowa) to care for hundreds of companion animals affected by flooding. [September 2008 PET AGE]

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (New York) gave $12,000 to Morgan County Animal Shelter (Martinsville, Ind.) to care for more than 250 dogs and cats displaced by flooding. [September 2008 PET AGE]

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (New York) for a limited time this summer sold its licensed line of pet travel and safety products in 1,400 Wal-Mart stores across the country. The line was made by ALCO Consumer Products Inc. (Cranbury, N.J). [September 2008 PET AGE]

Aquascape Inc. (St. Charles, Ill.), a water garden products company, ranked No. 316 on Crain’s 2008 List of Chicago’s Largest Privately Held Companies. [September 2008 PET AGE]

ARIZONA—Kennel Permit Restrictions. Gov. Janet Napolitano in July signed House Bill 2701 into law, to deny a kennel permit to any person who has been convicted of a violation of state animal cruelty laws, or any other state, county or municipal animal welfare law, with the exception of license and leash law violations. The new law amends existing Arizona kennel permit laws. [September 2008 PET AGE]

Bark Busters (Littleton, Colo.), a dog training company, launched Bark Busters Boutique, an online store offering the company’s branded training and other products. [September 2008 PET AGE]

Best Friends Animal Society (Kanab, Utah) and Last Chance for Animals (Los Angeles) in July launched “A Puppy-Store-Free LA,” a campaign focused on ending the sale, breeding and importation of puppy mill dogs in the Greater Los Angeles area. The launch kicked off a national effort to stop pet stores from selling dogs supplied by puppy mills. [September 2008 PET AGE]

Big Bark Bakery (Dallas) won a 2008 Sofi Award for outstanding specialty foods and beverages for its Mega Bite Peanut Treat. [September 2008 PET AGE]

Bravo! (Vernon, Conn.) signed Pet Food Experts Inc. (Cumberland, R.I.) as its exclusive distributor in the Northeast, making the products available to approximately 2,500 retail outlets in New England. [September 2008 PET AGE]

Camp Bow Wow (Boulder, Colo.) hired Brian Belmont as chief operating officer, overseeing the dog day care franchise’s expansion, operations, training and real estate development. Most recently, he was senior vice president of development for Quiznos Sub. [September 2008 PET AGE]

Cardinal Laboratories Inc. (Azusa, Calif.)—known for making innovative shampoos, grooming products and consumable products as well as launching the Crazy Pet licensing property—is celebrating its 60th anniversary. [September 2008 PET AGE]

Chateau-Animaux (Washington) opened a wholesale dog biscuit bakery in Beltsville, Md., allowing it to produce its own packaged dog treats and expand the line. [September 2008 PET AGE]

Doctors Foster and Smith (Rhinelander, Wis.), a veterinarian-owned cataloger and online retailer of pet supplies and pharmaceuticals with more than $250 million in annual sales, is celebrating its 25th anniversary. [September 2008 PET AGE]

DogChewz NYC (New York) donated more than $5,000 worth of dog/cat beds and bowls with 18-karat gold lettering to The Mayor’s Alliance for NYC Animals, a nonprofit organization that promotes collaboration among the city’s animal welfare groups in order to end the unnecessary destruction of homeless dogs and cats. [September 2008 PET AGE]

Tim Vokes rejoined Doskocil Manufacturing Co. Inc. (Arlington, Texas) as executive vice president of sales and marketing for both Doskocil and Aspen Pet Products Holdings Inc. (Denver). He has almost 22 years’ experience with the company. [September 2008 PET AGE]

Thomas J. Albani rejoined the board of directors for Doskocil Manufacturing Co. Inc. (Arlington, Texas) after a six-year absence. Prior to his retirement from full-time business activities, he was chief executive officer of the Electrolux Corp., and also is a director on the boards of Select Comfort Corp. (Minneapolis) and Igloo Products Corp. (Houston). [September 2008 PET AGE]

Ethical Products Inc. (Bloomfield, N.J.) hired Paul Kuny as senior vice president of sales and marketing, a newly created position. Most recently, Kuny was senior vice president of sales for The Hartz Mountain Corp. (Secaucus, N.J.). [September 2008 PET AGE]

Ethical Products Inc. (Bloomfield, N.J.) hired Wendie Schuerman as head of its Fashion Pet division. She has more than 25 years’ experience in the apparel and accessory industries, most recently as president of Route 66 for Bonjour Corp. [September 2008 PET AGE]

Fetch! Pet Care (Berkeley, Calif.) hired Elyse A. Marks as director of marketing, responsible for developing and implementing the company’s strategic marketing plan as well as programs for pet owners, current and prospective franchisees and corporate partners. Most recently, she was director of marketing for Pump It Up. [September 2008 PET AGE]

The Fur Seasons Resort for Pets (Stuart, Fla.) donated $2,000, raised at its first anniversary party, to Dogs and Cats Forever to care for homeless and abused animals. [September 2008 PET AGE]

To celebrate its 10th anniversary and pay tribute to its clients in the animal health industry, Germinder & Associates Inc. (New York), a marketing and communications agency, will donate $10,000 to nonprofit animal health organizations. [September 2008 PET AGE]

Giddy Kitty Cat Products Corp. (Americus, Ga.) now sells Giddy Kitty catnip products in PetSmart stores across the nation. [September 2008 PET AGE]

GPC Pet Products (Muscatine, Iowa) is educating consumers about the benefits of World’s Best Cat Litter with a five-minute Web demonstration at www.worldsbestcatlitter.com. [September 2008 PET AGE]

GroomTeam USA (Beaumont, Calif.) named its top 10 groomers for 2007, based on points accumulated at sanctioned competitions throughout the year: Lindsay Berry (85 points); Veronica Frosch (72 points); Komako Tanaka (59 points); Cheryl Purcell (43 points); Julie Wilkins (39 points); Misty Fowler (28 points); Greta Dalrymple (26 points); Kendra Otto (20 points); Sarah Hawks (20 points); and Jared Lane (19 points). The four groomers with the highest point totals for 2007 or 2008 will represent the United States at the World Team Championships in 2009. [September 2008 PET AGE]

The Humane Society of the United States (Washington), working with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (New York) and Tennessee officials, in June discovered 747 animals, mostly dogs, during a raid of Pine Bluff Kennels, a 92-acre property in Lyles, Tenn. [September 2008 PET AGE]

In Clover Inc. (Boulder, Colo.), a premium pet supplement company, donated nearly $30,000 worth of products to animal rescue organizations in the first half of 2008. [September 2008 PET AGE]

International Absorbents Inc. (Ferndale, Wash.) reported sales of $8.5 million for the 2009 first quarter, up 1 percent from $8.4 million in the year-earlier period. The company makes commercial pet bedding and litter from recycled, renewable materials. [September 2008 PET AGE]

Jakks Pacific Inc. (Malibu, Calif.) won a Licensing Excellence Award in the Best Corporate Brand Licensee category for its American Kennel Club line of pet products. Given by the International Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association, the award recognizes the industry’s most successful licensing programs from the past year. [September 2008 PET AGE]

Juno’s Garden (Pacifica, Calif.) signed Nature’s Rules Inc. (Madison, N.C.) to distribute its products in North Carolina, South Carolina and southern Virginia; and Best Friend Products Corp. (Doylestown, Pa.) to distribute its products in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. [September 2008 PET AGE]

Juno’s Garden (Pacifica, Calif.) signed J. Honen & Associates (Northborough, Mass.) as a sales representative for pet stores from Connecticut to Maine, including New York City; and The Pet Team (Galt, Calif.) as a sales representative for pet stores in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada and Tennessee. [September 2008 PET AGE]

Kennelwood Pet Resorts, which operates six upscale boarding kennels in the St. Louis area, plans to start development on as many as nine locations in the Midwest by the end of 2008, and open seven locations in the Nashville, Tenn., area in the next five years. [September 2008 PET AGE]

Artist Knox was named Groomer of the Year on “Groomer Has It,” a reality-based grooming competition series that aired on Animal Planet. He won a mobile grooming salon worth $75,000 from Wag’n Tails Mobile Conversions (Granger, Ind.) and $50,000 in cash. [September 2008 PET AGE]

Land of Paws recently opened a third pet retail location in Kansas City, Mo. [September 2008 PET AGE]

Midnight Pass Inc. (Marshfield Hills, Mass.) bought the patents, trademarks and product designs for the Kot-To-Trot and Pet Stair from Toys4Petz L.L.C. (Melbourne Beach, Fla.), and is marketing updated versions of the items as Pop Up! Large Dog Loungers and Pop Up! Folding Pet Steps. [September 2008 PET AGE]

Mulligan Stew Pet Food (Jackson Hole, Wyo.) signed several new distributors: AFCO (Spokane, Wash.), Affordable Pet Supply (Thomasville, Pa.), Amazing Petfoods (Millersville, Md.), Best Friend Products (Perkasie, Pa.), Caporale Pet Supply (Forked River, N.J.), Chart Distribution (Indianapolis), Coast Pet Distributors (San Diego), Kernco (Tucson, Ariz.), Nature Rules (Stokesdale, N.C.), Topaz Natural Pet (Denver), United Pacific Pet (Fontana, Calif.) and John A. Van Den Bosch (Holland, Mich.). [September 2008 PET AGE]

My Good Dog L.L.C. (South Portland, Maine) signed The Animal Co., My Sporty Dog and Collarways to distribute its products in Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom, respectively. [September 2008 PET AGE]

Nano Pet Products L.L.C. (Wilton, Conn.) signed Royal Pet Supplies Inc. (Brentwood, N.Y., and Pompano Beach, Fla.) to distribute the Dog Gone Smart Bed and Dog Gone Smart Wear lines. [September 2008 PET AGE]

NEW JERSEY—Animal Hoarding Standards. Companion bills that set forth “minimal care” standards rather than the specific number of animals a person keeps or possesses as the means to determine animal hoarding await committee hearings in their respective chambers. A person would be guilty of animal hoarding if the lack of minimal care resulted in death, bodily injury or serious health consequences to at least some of the animals. Assembly Bill 2981 and Senate Bill 1989 provide that animal hoarding would be punishable as both a crime and a civil offense. [September 2008 PET AGE]

OHIO—Mandatory Rabies Vaccinations. Recently introduced legislation would mandate rabies vaccinations for all pet ferrets and cats, with certain exemptions. Under House Bill 446, pet owners who do not follow the vaccination guidelines would be subject to a $50 fine. [September 2008 PET AGE]

OKLAHOMA—Dog Kennel Restrictions. Recently enacted legislation makes it illegal for a dog kennel to be located within 2,500 feet of a school or day care facility in a municipality having a population of more than 300,000 people. The prohibition does not apply to dog kennels that are already lawfully in operation and were in compliance with licensing, permitting and zoning requirements prior to enactment of Senate Bill 1754.        [September 2008 PET AGE]

Only Natural Pet Store, an online retailer of natural pet products, and Colorado Canines, the first natural pet store in Boulder, Colo., opened a brick-and-mortar location of Only Natural Pet Store in the city’s Crossroads Commons shopping center. [September 2008 PET AGE]

EcoPure Naturals, a brand by OurPet’s Co. (Fairport Harbor, Ohio), is sponsoring DockDogs competitor Ares, a Belgian Malinois that holds the indoor world record in the extreme vertical competition. [September 2008 PET AGE]

Mobile grooming expert Dina Perry will present “The Comprehensive Mobile Styling Business” in conjunction with GroomExpo, Sept. 11-12 in Hershey, Pa., and the New England Pet Grooming Professionals Fall Festival, Oct. 31 in Warrick, R.I. For more information, visit www.barkleigh.com or www.nepgp.com. [September 2008 PET AGE]

The Pet Care Services Association (Colorado Springs, Colo.) will hold its annual convention and expo Oct. 28-30 at the Hilton Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh. This year’s event offers 10 sessions designed to educate boarding kennel operators, dog day care operators, groomers and other pet-services professionals about pet health care, retail sales, marketing, branding a business, and more. In addition, the trade show will feature the latest products and services from 90 exhibitors. For more information, visit www.petcareservices.org. [September 2008 PET AGE]

Pet Butler (Dallas), a pet waste removal service, was approved for the Small Business Administration Franchise Registry, a service that allows lenders and SBA offices to verify a franchise’s lending eligibility online. [September 2008 PET AGE]

The Pet Care Trust (Monrovia, Calif.) chose Navista Inc. (Washington), a public relations firm specializing in strategic organizational management and support, to help it expand its range of animal-related services and programs. [September 2008 PET AGE]

A vast majority of professional pet sitting businesses are independently owned (98 percent) and operated by women (84 percent), according to a recent report by Pet Sitters International (King, N.C.). Pet sitters make about 17.4 million visits to clients’ homes per year. Couples without children are most likely to use pet sitters (40.5 percent), followed by couples with children (28.9 percent) and single females (24.6 percent). [September 2008 PET AGE]      

Dan and Patty Miner opened a Petland store in Pasco, Wash.; and Alan and Karen Caplan opened a Petland store in Frazer Township, Pa. [September 2008 PET AGE]

The family of a man who allegedly caught psittacosis from a cockatiel purchased at the PetSmart store in Corpus Christi, Texas, in June filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the national chain in Nueces County state court, according to published reports. Joe de La Garza was 63 when he allegedly died from the sickness in October 2006. At press time, the company contended the allegations were unfounded and promised a strong defense against them. [September 2008 PET AGE]

PetSmart Inc. (Phoenix) is No. 72 on Store magazine’s Top 100 Retailers List, an annual ranking of retail companies by revenue. [September 2008 PET AGE]

PetSmart Charities (Phoenix) in July deployed an Emergency Relief Waggin’ stocked with about $50,000 worth of supplies to temporary shelters in northern California to help care for hundreds of animals evacuated from their homes due to wildfires. [September 2008 PET AGE]

Premier Pet Products (Midlothian, Va.) donated $25,000 to the R.K. Anderson Animal Behavior Research Endowment Fund to help advance the science and knowledge of behavior in companion animals. [September 2008 PET AGE]

Randy Boyd, president and chief executive officer of Radio Systems Corp. (Knoxville, Tenn.), won the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2008 Award for Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee for demonstrating extraordinary success in the areas of innovation, financial performances and personal commitment to their businesses and communities. [September 2008 PET AGE]

Spectrum Brands Inc. (Atlanta) in July terminated the sale of its global pet supply business, including United Pet Group (Cincinnati), to Salton Inc. (Miramar, Fla.) because of problems getting consent from senior lenders. Spectrum planned to sell the business to Salton for $692.5 million in May, but now continues to operate the business, which is expected to generate $40 million to $50 million in fiscal 2009. [September 2008 PET AGE]

Instant Ocean, a brand by United Pet Group Aquatics (Blacksburg, Va.), helped promote the International Year of the Reef 2008 campaign with an article in the summer issue of SeaScope, a newsletter for marine aquarists. The year-long worldwide campaign aims to raise awareness about the importance of coral reefs and threats to their sustainability, and to motivate people to take action to protect them. [September 2008 PET AGE]

Vitakraft Pet Products in June bought Sun Seed Co. Inc. and combined the two companies to form Vitakraft Sun Seed Co., headquartered in Bowling Green, Ohio. The new company actively markets both the Sun Seed and Vitakraft brands throughout North America. Andy Messinger, former general manager of Vitakraft, is chief executive officer of the company. Brent Weinmann, former owner and president of Sun Seed, is president. [September 2008 PET AGE]

WhatALuckyPet.com (Eastsound, Wash.), owned by Jake and Sharon Boyd, is a new online retail store selling high-end pet supplies. [September 2008 PET AGE]

Zobo Pet Products (San Francisco) provided dog collars for Smooch a Pooch Celebrity Doggie Bags, distributed to celebrities in May. The bags help get celebrities involved with Dogs Who Care, a pet rescue organization founded after Hurricane Katrina. [September 2008 PET AGE]