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. [October 2008 PET AGE]

Celebrity cook Rachael Ray launched a superpremium line of dog food and treats called Rachael Ray Nutrish, made by Ainsworth Pet Nutrition (Meadville, Pa.). Ray will donate her proceeds to Rachael’s Rescue, a group that helps at-risk animals through adoption, medical care, educational programs, and training and outreach initiatives. [October 2008 PET AGE]

All Natural Products L.L.C. (Royal Oak, Mich.) signed 4word Systems Inc. (Brighton, Mich.) to market its Nature One pet stain and odor removers. [October 2008 PET AGE]

More than 600 distributors, contractors and retailers helped build a 250-foot-by-90-foot water feature at the St. Charles, Ill., headquarters of Aquascape Inc. during the company’s “World’s Most Extreme Pond Build.” The five-day event included hands-on training, educational seminars, networking opportunities, tours of customized ponds and a Pond Olympics for Aquascape vendors. [October 2008 PET AGE]

The Asheville Aquarium Inc., an aquarium specialty store in Asheville, N.C., recently opened a coffee/espresso bar called Java Reef—complete with a 575-gal. mini reef display. [October 2008 PET AGE]

Colleen Berg Jewelry (Hermosa Beach, Calif.) is donating proceeds from sales of its animal-print jewelry to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles. [October 2008 PET AGE]

Bradley Caldwell Inc. (Hazelton, Pa.) in July acquired Loveland Pet Products (Mason, Ohio), extending its distribution services to independent specialty retailers in more than 26 states. Roger and Robert Johannigman, former owners of Loveland, are managing the Ohio distribution center as vice presidents of Bradley Caldwell. [October 2008 PET AGE]

CALIFORNIA—Responsible Dog Ownership. Assembly Bill 1634, now known as the California Responsible Pet Ownership Act, was twice gutted and amended to establish fines for intact dogs that are impounded for roaming at large and for intact dogs that are not licensed. Upon a third offense of either infraction, owners must pay to have the dog spayed or neutered. [October 2008 PET AGE]

Central Garden & Pet Co. (Walnut Creek, Calif.) reported sales of $492.9 million in the 2008 third quarter, up 5.6 percent from $466.8 million in the year-earlier period. Net sales of pet products were $239 million, unchanged from a year ago. Net income was flat: $15.6 million versus $15.5 million in the year-earlier period. [October 2008 PET AGE]

Church & Dwight Co. Inc. (Princeton, N.J.) reported net sales of $593.9 million in the 2008 second quarter, up 8.7 percent from $546.5 million in the year-earlier period. Net income was $45.8 million, up 12 percent from $40.5 million in the year-earlier period. [October 2008 PET AGE]

Del Monte Foods (San Francisco), maker of Milk-Bone, Meow Mix and other mass-market pet brands, launched the Power of Paws program to educate consumers about the mutual health benefits of the pet-owner bond, to motivate consumers to spend more time with their pets, and to make pets accessible to people who need daily assistance or companionship. For more information, visit www.powerofpaws.com. [October 2008 PET AGE]

A Dog’s Life L.L.C. (Santa Monica, Calif.) signed PPI Pet Products (Lakeville, Mass.) to distribute its line of organic and natural dog treats. [October 2008 PET AGE]

Dr. Frank’s (Santa Barbara, Calif.), a maker of homeopathic remedies, modified advertising claims for Dr. Frank’s Joint Relief for Dogs and Cats after the National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus found the evidence did not support the performance or efficacy claims. NAD initiated the inquiry pursuant to a challenge by Hill’s Pet Nutrition Inc. (Topeka, Kan.). [October 2008 PET AGE]

Dublin Dog Co. Inc. (Charlotte, N.C.) gave All Style, No Stink waterproof collars to all canine competitors in Dock Dogs’ Dogs & Logs World Championships, held in July in Stillwater, Minn. [October 2008 PET AGE]

Fab4Pets (Newark, N.J.) hired Craig O’Keefe as executive vice president of sales and marketing for North America, overseeing all U.S. sales channels, branding and packaging design. Before joining the company, he co-founded Pet Aromatics (Westminster, Calif.). [October 2008 PET AGE]

FouFou Dog (Richmond Hill, Ontario) donated a portion of sales from its Breast Cancer Ribbon charms to breast cancer research. [October 2008 PET AGE]

GPC Pet Products (Muscatine, Iowa) hired Paul Zobel as senior brand manager for the World’s Best Cat Litter product line. Previously, he was brand manager for Horizon Fitness (Madison, Wis.) and associate product manager for Dremel (Mount Prospect, Ill.). [October 2008 PET AGE]

ILLINOIS—Mandatory Spay/Neuter. The Chicago City Council Committees on Finance and on License & Consumer Protection in July set aside a proposed ordinance to mandate spay/neuter for every dog or cat 6 months or older in the city, with certain exemptions. Committee members will consider the issue at a later date. [October 2008 PET AGE]

Jack’s Aquarium & Pets (Beavercreek, Ohio) promoted Paul Kamm to vice president of sales and operations, overseeing daily operations of the 27-store chain and its Pet Solutions nationwide catalog. He has been with the company for 14 years. In addition, the company promoted John Frounfelker to director of distribution, overseeing operations of its 65,000-square-foot distribution center, and hired Ann Wilson as a buyer of dog, cat and wild bird products. [October 2008 PET AGE]

Mars Petcare U.S. moved operations for Nutro Products to its headquarters in Franklin, Tenn. The business continues to be led by Doug Cahill, president of Mars Petcare U.S., and supported by Dave Horton, general manager. [October 2008 PET AGE]

Mars Petcare U.S. (Franklin, Tenn.) in August recalled 100 20-pound bags of Pedigree Complete Nutrition Small Crunchy Bites food sold in Albertsons stores in Southern California and Las Vegas due to potential contamination with Salmonella. The recall included bags with UPC code 23100 14719, lot code 830BFCAT02 and best buy date 07/2009. At press time, the company had not received reports of illness related to the food, but advised pet owners to dispose of it in a safe manner and return empty bags for a full refund. For more information, call 877-568-4463 or visit www.petcare.mars.com. [October 2008 PET AGE]

MARYLAND—Snapping Turtles. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Fisheries Service, implemented an emergency rule setting forth restrictions on snapping turtles. Under the rule, permits are required for any person catching snapping turtles for commercial purposes. The restrictions became effective June 30, 2008, and expire Dec. 27, 2008. No permanent rule has yet been proposed. [October 2008 PET AGE]

MASSACHUSETTS—Pet-Rental Companies. The House of Representatives in July passed a bill that would outlaw pet-rental companies. City council members in Boston passed their own ban, prohibiting a pet-rental company to open a Boston branch. [October 2008 PET AGE]

Menu Foods Income Fund (Mississauga, Ontario) in August reported its first quarterly profit since the 2007 pet food recall: $694 million in the 2008 second quarter, up from a year-earlier loss of $3.4 million. Revenue was $56.9 million, up from $44.6 million in the year-earlier period. [October 2008 PET AGE]

Multipet International Inc. purchased a second office and warehouse building in Moonachie, N.J., to accommodate expansion. [October 2008 PET AGE]

Muttropolis: A Utopia for Pets & Their Parents (Solana Beach, Calif.) appointed Michael J. Edwards as chairman of its board of directors. He has more than 25 years’ retail merchandising and operations experience, most recently as president and chief executive officer of Lucy Activewear (Portland, Ore.). [October 2008 PET AGE]

Nano Pet Products L.L.C. (Wilton, Conn.) signed Anipet Animal Supplies Inc. (Surry, British Columbia) to distribute Dog Gone Smart beds and apparel throughout Canada. [October 2008 PET AGE]

NEW HAMPSHIRE—Shelter for Outdoor Dogs. New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch signed into law a bill that spells out specific shelter requirements for dogs living outdoors. Effective Jan. 1, 2009, law enforcement officers will have the authority to investigate complaints about substandard shelters. [October 2008 PET AGE]

Orgit Software Corp. (Chicago) launched Mypetsoft.com to give pet businesses and owners access to PetCare Software, a specialized database that helps manage pet health records, identity data and more online. [October 2008 PET AGE]

OurPet’s Co. (Fairport Harbor, Ohio) reported net revenues of $3 million in the 2008 second quarter, up 7.1 percent from $2.8 million in the year-earlier period. According to Dr. Steven Tsengas, president and chief executive officer of the company, patent infringement lawsuits filed by a competitor adversely affected earnings for the quarter. [October 2008 PET AGE]

Shelly Fuller opened Paws Café, a store that offers all-natural dog and cat food made fresh daily, in Redmond, Wash. The store donates 5 percent of every purchase to Reading With Rover, a literacy program offered through schools, bookstores and libraries in the Puget Sound, Wash., area. [October 2008 PET AGE]

The Pet Care Trust (Monrovia, Calif.) and The Florida Aquarium (Tampa) educated 99 teachers in Pinellas and Hillsborough Counties, and reached 578 students in 30 classes, through the Fish in the Classroom Program. The program is designed to increase interest in the aquarium hobby among children. [October 2008 PET AGE]

Pet Extreme, a Turlock, Calif.-based chain of six pet stores, will open stores in the Woodland’s Gateway and Stone Pointe retail projects underway in Sacramento, Calif. [October 2008 PET AGE]

Pet Promise (Boulder, Colo.) donated $1 to Pets Are Worth Saving Chicago for every pet-owner picture taken during fund-raisers at two Pet Supplies “Plus” stores, six Chicago neighborhood festivals and 16 Petco stores, with a maximum donation of $10,000. [October 2008 PET AGE]

Pet Supermarket (Sunrise, Fla.) opened new stores in Clermont, Inverness and Orlando, Fla., and Brentwood, Tenn. The company also relocated its store in Tallahassee, Fla., to a new 10,000-square-foot space in the city. [October 2008 PET AGE]

Pet Valu Inc. (Markham, Ontario) reported net income of $3.6 million for the 2008 second quarter. Comparable store sales rose 5.7 percent in Canada and 8.8 percent in the United States compared with the year-earlier period. [October 2008 PET AGE]

Pet Valu Canada Inc., the Canadian operating branch of Pet Valu Inc. (Markham, Ontario), purchased all 15 Berrys … Your PetsChoice stores in eastern Ontario and was maintaining operations under the Berrys banner at press time. [October 2008 PET AGE]

Petco Animal Supplies Inc. (San Diego) became the exclusive retailer of Cesar Millan “Dog Whisperer” branded merchandise, and now sells the line at more than 900 stores nationwide and at Petco.com. [October 2008 PET AGE]

The Petco Foundation (San Gabriel, Calif.) established the We Are Family Too fund to help shelters and local programs facing animal-welfare issues caused by the country’s difficult economic climate. For more information, visit www.petco.com. [October 2008 PET AGE]

The Petfinder.com Foundation gave a total of $130,000 to 31 animal shelters to help them prepare for natural disasters. The funds were raised through the Paws to Save Pets program created by Merial Ltd. (Duluth, Ga.). [October 2008 PET AGE]

PetfoodIndustry.com (Rockford, Ill.), a new resource for pet food professionals, combines the latest news and trends with perspectives from industry experts. [October 2008 PET AGE]

Jay Suk and David Shin opened a Petland store in the Preston Forest Shopping Center in Dallas; and Eric and Marci Caplan opened a Petland store in the Village of Eastside shopping center in Pittsburgh. [October 2008 PET AGE]

Petland Inc. (Chillicothe, Ohio) has enrolled more than 60,000 pets in the Petland Enhanced Protection Program since its inception in August 2007. Nearly 90 percent of missing pets enrolled in the program have been returned successfully. [October 2008 PET AGE]

Policies from Pets Best Insurance (Boise, Idaho) now are underwritten by AICC, a general insurance subsidiary of Aetna Inc. (Hartford, Conn.). [October 2008 PET AGE]

PetSmart Inc. (Phoenix) is No. 63 on Stores magazine’s 2008 Hot 100 Retailers list. Companies with more than $100 million in sales were ranked according to greatest year-over-year revenue percentage growth in 2007. [October 2008 PET AGE]

A Tennessee grand jury in August formally indicted Patricia Adkisson of Pine Bluff Kennels (Lyles, Tenn.) on 24 felony counts of aggravated animal cruelty, nine misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty and more than a dozen other misdemeanors. At press time, Adkisson’s arraignment was scheduled for September. [October 2008 PET AGE]

The Planet Dog Foundation, the charitable arm of Planet Dog (Portland, Maine), matched a $10,000 Quality of Life grant from the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation for the Bonnie Bergin Assistance Dog Institute (Santa Rose, Calif.). Quality of Life grants are given biannually to organizations that improve the quality of life for people with paralysis. [October 2008 PET AGE]

Radio Systems Corp. (Knoxville, Tenn.), maker of PetSafe, Invisible Fence, Innotek and other brands, signed an exclusive licensing agreement with Petnique (Newcastle, Wash.) to manufacture and sell the Cinch-It pet collar. [October 2008 PET AGE]

Spectrum Brands Inc. (Atlanta) reported net sales of $148.8 million for its Global Pet Supplies segment in the 2008 third quarter, up 10.1 percent from $135 million in the year-earlier period. Companion animal product net sales grew 13 percent, while global aquatics net sales grew 8.7 percent. North American companion animal sales increased 9.3 percent, offset by a 2.3 percent decrease in aquatics. [October 2008 PET AGE]

Sweet Pea Silver (Fort Bragg, Calif.), a maker of hand-colored sterling silver jewelry for pet lovers, is celebrating its 20th anniversary. [October 2008 PET AGE]

Wag’N Enterprises L.L.C. (Herndon, Va.) launched Rover Respond’R, an all-encompassing pet safety service that provides assistance to all parties involved in car accidents, house fires, natural disasters and evacuations, and allows owners to pre-approve veterinary care. [October 2008 PET AGE]

Whiskers ’N Tails Inc. (Gardena, Calif.) re-opened with a renovated boutique area and a 1,000-square-foot expansion that includes a new dog training studio and cage-free day care facility. [October 2008 PET AGE]

Zootoo.com (Secaucus, N.J.), a social networking and news site for pet lovers, launched the Zootoo.com Angels program to recognize pet store owners, groomers, veterinarians and other pet professionals who help needy animals and shelters. [October 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. [October 2008 PET AGE]

Kennelwood Pet Resorts, which operates six upscale boarding kennels in the St. Louis area, plans to develop 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, according to published news reports. [October 2008 PET AGE]

Mobile grooming expert Dina Perry will present “The Comprehensive Mobile Styling Business” in conjunction with the New England Pet Grooming Professionals Fall Festival, Oct. 31 in Warrick, R.I. For more information, visit www.nepgp.com. [October 2008 PET AGE]

The Pet Care Services Association (Colorado Springs, Colo.) will hold the Pet Services Basic Training seminar series Oct. 26-29 at the Hilton Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh. Designed to help attendees start or expand a pet-care business, the four-day educational event will feature 16 seminars on topics such as understanding the pet care market, securing financing, deciding what services to offer, developing and retaining staff and marketing services. For more information, visit www.petservicesexpo.com. [October 2008 PET AGE]

A vast majority of professional pet sitting businesses are independently owned (98 percent) and operated (84 percent) by women, 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 (41 percent), followed by couples with children (29 percent) and single females (25 percent). [October 2008 PET AGE]

Grooming competition veterans Jay Scruggs and Sue Zecco debuted “Canine Grooming Secrets,” a new seminar for competitive groomers, at the 36th All American Grooming Show in August in Wheeling, Ill. Similar to the duo’s “Super Styling Sessions” programs, the full-day presentation featured demonstrations on live purebred dogs and covered preparing to compete, finding good dogs, overcoming travel problems and good sportsmanship. [October 2008 PET AGE]

Waggin’ Tailz, a pet-sitting service headquartered in Houston, in July sold its first two franchises in areas north and south of the city’s NASA Parkway. [October 2008 PET AGE]