New Animal
Care Guidelines Available
Voluntary guidelines designed to help pet retailers provide
better care for in-store animals will be available at no cost
to retailers, breeders, pet handlers and caregivers at www.pijac.org
beginning Oct. 1, according to the American Pet Products Manufacturers
Association (Greenwich, Conn.) and the Pet Industry Joint Advisory
Council (Washington).
The Retail Pet Industry Animal Care Guidelines address all
aspects of pet handling, including standards for facility
operations, feeding and nutrition, safety and sanitation,
disease prevention, animal welfare and husbandry, quality
assurance, veterinarian consultations, inspections, compliance
with laws, written standard operating procedures and employee
and consumer education.
“Pet stores that house companion animals are held to
high standards by government regulators, the animal welfare
community, the media and consumers. It therefore behooves
pet retailers not only to practice sound animal husbandry
techniques, but also to ensure humane care of animals at all
times,” said Marshall Meyers, executive vice president
of PIJAC.
The best way for pet retailers to ensure that all animals
on their premises are maintained and cared for humanely, Meyers
said, is to implement written operating procedures based on
professionally accepted practices and to train all employees
to follow these procedures.
“These guidelines do just that, and are designed to
be supplementary to any relevant federal, state or local laws
and/or regulations that apply to pet facilities,” Meyers
added.
The Retail Pet Industry Animal Care Guidelines are the product
of a two-year collaboration among representatives of PIJAC,
APPMA, the Pet Industry Distributors Association (Bel Air,
Md.), the World Wide Pet Industry Association (Arcadia, Calif.),
the Pet Food Institute (Washington), H.H. Backer Associates
Inc. (Chicago), and veterinarians from the American Veterinary
Medical Association (Schaumburg, Ill.).
PIJAC also solicited input from retailers and other interested
parties during forums at Global Pet Expo in March.
“To continue to improve the lives of pets and their
owners, the industry must aspire to the highest levels of
responsibility and excellence, and these guidelines are a
critical first step,” said Bob Vetere, president of
APPMA. “Retailers who adopt the procedures outlined
in the guidelines will ensure that their animals receive appropriate
care and handling and will demonstrate to the public that
their facilities are professionally managed.”
For more information, visit www.pijac.org. [October 2006
PET AGE]
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