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Press Press Releases 2003 Pethealth Inc. announces sponsorship of Adoption Options workshops that will result in the training of hundreds of shelter workers and animal placement volunteers across North America. OAKVILLE, ON, September 16, 2003. Pethealth Inc., owners of the ShelterCare Pet Insurance Programs and 24PetWatch, the first and only North American wide industry-neutral pet registry and recovery network, is pleased to announce that it has signed an agreement with the ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), PETCO Foundation, and Petfinder.com to be a principal sponsor of the Adoption Options workshops for the 2004 season. The Adoption Options concept, which is the creation of the ASPCA, PETCO, and Petfinder.com, provides a unique format of continuing education for employees and volunteers of animal shelters and rescue groups throughout North America, focusing largely on under-served regions where national training programs do not have a significant impact. This program has gained increased recognition as an exciting alternative to the traditional national education conferences. Ten workshops were held in 2003, but with the participation of Pethealth the program will be able to expand to a minimum of 17 such workshops in 2004 and would expect to expand further in 2005. "We are delighted to have been given this opportunity to become a sponsor for the Adoption Options workshops," said Mark Warren, President and Chief Executive Officer of Pethealth. "Our experience to date within the shelter community suggests that the demands on shelter staff and volunteers are such that traditional conferences, particularly on a national level, are becoming less viable. The Adoption Options concept, which provides local workshops, is an exciting alternative that can fill the continuing education needs of shelter staff without creating additional stress due to time and financial constraints. Furthermore, we see the Adoption Options workshops as a platform for building on the success of our ShelterCare insurance program and our 24PetWatch pet registry and recovery network microchip program." "Thanks to the generous underwriting of the Adoption Options series by Pethealth and the PETCO Foundation, the ASPCA National Shelter Outreach and Petfinder.com team can effectively double the number of workshops offered to shelter professionals," said Julie Morris, ASPCA Senior Vice President, National Shelter Outreach Department. "This series presents a valuable training opportunity for humane workers and Pethealth's commitment to animal protection is underscored by their participation." "Pethealth's sponsorship of our conference will allow us to provide additional, much-needed workshops, resulting in the training of hundreds of shelter workers and animal placement volunteers," said Betsy Saul, Petfinder.com Founder and Chief Executive Officer. "Throughout our relationship with ShelterCare, PetCare, and now, 24PetWatch, Pethealth's commitment to our mission of ending the euthanasia of adoptable pets has been unwavering." About Pethealth Founded in February 1998, Pethealth is Canada's number one provider of pet insurance and is number two in North America, currently offering its PetCare pet insurance programs in 10 provinces, 45 states and Washington, D.C. Pethealth offers its pet insurance programs under a variety of names, including QuickCare, the PetCare Pet Insurance Programs and Union Plus Pet Insurance. In the United States, the PetCare Pet Insurance Programs are underwritten by Lincoln General Insurance Company, York, PA, through Avalon Risk Management Inc. In Canada, the Company's pet insurance is offered to owners of dogs and cats through its wholly owned subsidiary, PetCare Insurance Brokers Ltd. ING Novex, a member of the ING Group, and Kingsway General Insurance Company underwrite PetCare products in Canada. The PetCare programs also carry the exclusive endorsements of a number of industry leaders, including veterinary medical associations representing approximately four out of five practising veterinarians in Canada. In addition, Pethealth, through its wholly owned subsidiaries Pethealth Services Inc. and Pethealth Services (USA) Inc., sells and distributes Allflex pet microchip supplies to the companion animal market in North America and operates the related pet recovery registry under the trade name 24PetWatch. Pethealth is based in Oakville, Ontario. Institutional investors include Dynamic Mutual Funds, through its Dynamic Venture Opportunities Fund. About the ASPCA Since 1995, The ASPCA National Shelter Outreach Department (NSO) has been helping animal shelters to become the best they can be - centers that effectively promote the well-being and humane treatment of animals in their communities. The ASPCA offers educational materials, resources, referrals, advice, and training at little or no cost to humane organizations. The NSO team is comprised of 21 seasoned animal welfare professionals, highly respected in the field for their expertise in a wide variety of shelter-related areas. They visit more than 200 humane organizations and present over 75 training seminars and workshops to shelter professionals annually. NSO works closely with its online partner, Petfinder.com, the nation's largest Internet adoption service. NSO created and maintains an extensive and growing reference library on the Petfinder site at www.library.petfinder.com. For more information on the ASPCA programs and resources visit its website at: www.aspca.org/shelters. About Petfinder.com Petfinder.com, founded in 1995, is the largest searchable database of adoptable pets on the Web. It facilitated over a million adoptions in 2002. At Petfinder.com visitors can currently "meet" over 130,000 adoptable pets from over 6,300 animal shelters and rescue groups across the U.S. and Canada. The site also has a resource library and message boards to help educate new adopters about pet health, behaviour and care. Petfinder.com has partnered with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to ensure that visitors and member shelters have access to advice from the top pet experts. Support from sponsors such as the Ralston Purina Company, PETCO Animal Supplies Inc., BISSELL, Inc., Merial and Pethealth Inc. ensures that the site remains free to both shelters and rescue groups as well as to potential adopters. Forbes Magazine named Petfinder.com one of the 300 Best of the Web, and Family PC ranks it as one of the 100 best family sites. Statements contained in this news release, if not historical, are forward-looking statements, which involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results described in forward-looking statements. For further information, please contact: |
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