Job losses are expected at Spectrum Brands Pet Division, which includes the Tetra, 8in1 and FURminator brands, when it closes its Southampton office at the end of the year. 

The marketing, finance and customer service functions will join the Spectrum Brands Head Office in Manchester where they will sit alongside its other leading brands such as Russell Hobbs, Remington, George Foreman and Varta. 

From January Dave Pool, currently Country Business Director for the UK, will leave the company with his responsibilities managed within the wider Spectrum Brands Group. 

The sales and marketing function will report to Ian West, who will become the Sales and Marketing Manager.  The move will result in redundancies for some staff at the Southampton office.  

“This is a significant move for Spectrum Brands which brings some of its best loved pet brands under the same roof as our other UK brands," said Managing Director Tim Wright.

"From January 2013 Spectrum Brands Pet Division will benefit from all the additional resources and skills of the company’s head office.” 

Dave Pool commented: “This is a sad time for all of us. We’ve developed a strong and successful team over the years. However, I am confident that the new organisation based in the Spectrum Head Office will secure future success for the business.”

Westland has set aside £1m worth of marketing money to spend on its Peckish bird food range this winter.

The campaign includes TV, national and specialist press, and is set to reach over 17m customers nationwide.

Adverts have already been placed in the National Press, and they will be appearing in the Specialist Press throughout November.

Then TV advert, which was shown for the first time last season, are scheduled to be aired on ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky between January 7-13, 23-26, and 30–February 2.

If you want a sneak preview of the TV advert then click here

Organisers of PATS Sandown have revealed the show is 83% full of exhibitors with still over four months to go before opening day on March 19.

Visiting pet retailers will benefit not only from a huge gathering of suppliers but also free show entry, free parking, free catalogue, free programme of seminars and dog grooming demonstrations and many valuable special offers created solely for visitors.

PATS Sandown originally took place in a single hall – the Surrey Hall – but for the third year running the show’s popularity dictates the need for it to fill both Surrey and Esher Halls.

Exhibitors are giving the PATS team very positive feedback about their anticipation for PATS Sandown, and here Pet Trade Xtra reports on some of the things they've been saying.



Steve Brown (pictured above, left), Managing Director of Pedigree Wholesale, one of the companies to have exhibited at every PATS since the first show in 2009, makes his company’s position extremely clear.

“PATS is a must attend event. As the UK’s largest pet trade show it gives us the opportunity to showcase our full product and service offering to both existing and potential new customers. As well as generating leads the exhibition is a great way of presenting new product launches and demonstrating merchandising solutions. The quality and number of visitors to PATS gives us further confidence in our decision to book for the fifth year running”.

Collarways has exhibited in the Esher Hall from the first year it became part of PATS and director Gabriela Lerner explains why the company has taken an even larger stand in Sandown 2013.

“We’ve moved to a prime site by the stairs. Quite honestly, any position within PATS is as good as anywhere else; the trade really must be there. Because of PATS’ popularity, we know people will come to find us wherever we are.”

Richard Hulme of Vitakraft Burton Dene says: “The main reason we have booked Sandown is that it gives the UK pet trade the opportunity to see, first hand, and in one place, all the new product launches that were first aired at Interzoo. We understand that the majority of the trade are not able to get out to Nuremburg every two years and even our regular customers don’t get too many opportunities to see the full ranges on show all together. It can be quite an eye-opener to see all of a supplier’s products on one stand.

"I think we, and most other suppliers, just want to see the trade come out and support their show. Just as a retailer needs to put product on show for the consumers, so the suppliers want to put their products on show for the retailers, and the retailers need to come and see these products. Whichever route pet retailers use for sourcing new products there can be no substitute for seeing, touching and even, sometimes, tasting!”

Helen Booth of Feelwell’s points out the versatility and potential for companies of all sizes to exhibit at PATS.

“PATS is always a successful event for us. As a small business it gives us the opportunity to present our products to whole of the industry and get essential feedback from our customers to help us further develop our range.”

Kay Wright of Lucky Pet (Eurostitch) looks forward to PATS as a new product launch opportunity in its own right.

“Lucky Pet will be exhibiting at Sandown 2013 again as this pet show is a great platform to launch new products and designs, meet both new and existing customers and fly the flag for British Made products. We have found that both PATS shows have grown year on year both with visitor numbers and orders taken. We look forward to another great show next year – keep it up PATS!”

The PATS website can be found at www.patshow.co.uk and the PATS hotline is 01892 862848. Companies wishing to exhibit should call Annie Dyke on the same number.

As the reptile sector of the pet trade continues to show growth, manufacturers are striving to develop and launch new products. We asked three internationally renowned reptile experts about their hopes for the future and the products they would like available to sell.  

Kathy Love, Corn Utopia (Alva, Florida, USA): “Elongated snake hides in a range species specific sizes that run the length of the vivarium to provide shelter along the whole temperature gradient. Ideally the hides should have enclosed ends (with removable stoppers) and an entrance at the top. A deluxe version could have a built in thermometer.  That would be a perfect snake hide!"

Kevin Stevens, Owner of Zoo Logic (Darlington, England): "In my leopard gecko breeding colonies I use lengths of plumbing pipe glued together in a pyramid to offer multiple hide options at different temperatures. A concentration of hides in a small footprint area is very useful in multi-occupancy vivariums. Manufacturers should think about making a more attractive version."

Ken Foose, Owner of Exotic Pets (Las Vegas, Nevada, USA): "I've always wanted to see a complete bottom for terrariums. It would have a subterranean section and a top part that snap together making a cave system you can see into. The reptile can bask on the top section and have access to the subterranean caves via tunnels and doors. A great addition would be a snap-on background made of the same material, with ledges and places to attach plants, water bowls and other decor. A modular system like this would be pretty cool."

Words: Tony Jones

Cat Mate is launching two new cat flaps which control pet access either via an implanted microchip or via an RFID collar disc through the same cat flap.

The Elite Selective Chip and Disc offers electronic four-way locking, while the top of the range Elite Super Selective Chip and Disc also offers a timer control and a cat location display. 

Only cats whose implanted microchip or RFID collar disc are programmed into the cat flap can gain access into the home, keeping all other animals out. 

The cat flaps work with all popular microchip standards. The RFID collar disc manufactured by Cat Mate, is dedicated to Cat Mate Elite cat flaps. Implanted microchip or RFID disc capture occurs across a wide area in front of and within the cat flap frame, ensuring rapid recognition and minimising any microchip migration difficulties.

The technology allows multiple cat access – up to 9 for the 355and up to 16 for the 356.

Suggested retail prices are: Elite Super Selective Chip and Disc is £109.95 and Elite Selective Chip and Disc £84.95. ID discs are sold separately at an RRP of £7.95 each.   Available through all good wholesalers.

www.pet-mate.com

Keswick in Cumbria has been voted the most dog-friendly town in the Kennel Club’s Open for Dogs Awards 2012.

The competition – now in its sixth year – is based solely on the views of the public and aims to break down barriers for man’s best friend by encouraging more businesses to be dog friendly. 

With over 28,000 businesses listed on the Open for Dogs website, competition was fierce. Thousands of nominations flooded in from dog lovers giving their paw of approval for the places that treat their pets like royalty, or simply offer them a drink of water when they need it. Certain businesses stood out as being particularly dog-centric however. 

The winners of the nationwide competition were:

• Somewhere to Drink – The Old Sergeant, Wandsworth
• Somewhere to Eat – Highdown Tearooms, Worthing
• Somewhere to Visit – Remus Memorial Horse Sanctuary, Essex
• Somewhere to Camp – Headley Wood Caravan & Camping, Devon
• Somewhere on the High Street – Metro Bank, branches throughout London and surrounding areas
• Most dog friendly Town – Keswick, Cumbria
• Special Recognition – Eurotunnel, Folkestone  
• Special Recognition – Hair by JFK, Edinburgh

Craig Donaldson, Chief Executive Officer of Metro Bank (pictured above), which won the Somewhere on the High Street category, said: “We are thrilled to have won a Kennel Club Open for Dogs Award for the second year running! One of Metro Bank’s mantras is ‘Dogs Rule’, and this award proves that not only are we open for dogs, but we continue to offer them and their owners amazing levels of service and convenience.

“These awards are very important for the millions of dog owners in the UK looking for places where dogs will be welcome. Metro Bank always provides water bowls and dog treats in all of our branches, and we welcome this award as proof of our commitment to man’s best friend.”

Deborah Elliott, Senior Product Manager for Eurotunnel, said, “As market leader for pet travel, Eurotunnel is delighted to be recognised by the Kennel Club as a business which truly pulls out all the stops for its canine customers. Our customers' dogs are part of the family, so we treat them just like any other passenger. With dog friendly terminals and modern facilities, we strive to make every pet's journey with us as smooth and stress free as possible.”

The winners of the Open for Dogs Awards will be presented with their awards at the Kennel Club’s Discover Dogs event at Earls Court, London on  November 10-11.

Fears are rising that most UK businesses are taking inadequate steps to safeguard customers’ credit card details.

Analysis by Ground Labs, the identity protection specialists, has found that the vast majority of UK businesses hold consumer credit card data unwittingly. 

Holding credit card details in this way is a breach of Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) compliance obligations and can attract up to a £500,000 fine by the Information Commissioner Officer (ICO) in a case of a data breach.

Latest figures show that £341 million was stolen in the UK in 2011 through credit card fraud. There is a global black market for credit card data and hacking incidents have risen by 19% in the past six months.

Retention of credit card data is an issue for businesses of all sizes. A random survey of security experts who use Ground Labs software across more than 100 consumer-facing businesses found that every one of them had credit card details unwittingly stored on IT equipment.  On average more than 1,000 credit card records were found by Ground Labs’ software within each business sampled.

Even businesses that claim to be compliant with agreed global standards for credit card data security hold rogue details, the Ground Labs survey has found.  There are various possible reasons for this, all linked to standard computer processes such as browser caches or email duplications.

Amongst the worst examples uncovered was a company that firmly believed it had no records.  It was found that the business actually held more than 20 million credit card numbers on servers throughout its network.

“We have more than 1,000 businesses across the UK and Europe that have used our software and every single business found erroneous card records in its IT systems," said European Director for Ground Labs, Mohamed Zouine. “What we have found is that even those businesses that believe that their systems are clean are carrying records that could be easily acquired by hackers.”

Many UK businesses have adopted an open mind, accepting there may be hidden data, and have already taken steps to identify and resolve any possible problems. Ground Labs is advocating the use of a simple software programme called Card Recon as part of the standard systems maintenance routine to detect and remove credit card details.

To discover what may be hiding on your own computer, a free trial license of the Ground Labs software, Card Recon, can be obtained through their website at www.groundlabs.com

One of Britain’s most iconic dog breeds, the Old English Sheepdog, has been put on an At Watch list by the Kennel Club because of concerns that the breed could face extinction in the future.

The breed has numbered just 316 puppy registrations so far this year, according to Kennel Club statistics released this week. This compares to 28,787 Labrador Retrievers, the UK’s most popular dog, 2,669 Chihuahuas and 5,496 Pugs, both of which are rapidly growing in popularity.

A breed is deemed to be vulnerable if it numbers less than 300 puppy registrations in a year. The Kennel Club has put the Old English Sheepdog on a new 'At Watch' list, for those breeds between 301 and 450 annual registrations, to highlight their plight before they get to vulnerable levels.

“The decline of the Old English Sheepdog can be partly explained by lifestyle changes as it needs a lot of grooming and exercise and so is not suitable for the fast paced urban lifestyles of many people," said Bill Lambert, Manager of the Kennel Club Assured Breeder Scheme.

“But it is also a lot to do with fashion. Despite the fact that Old English Sheepdogs have good temperaments and can make fantastic family pets their popularity is being eclipsed by more fashionable foreign breeds that can be much harder to train and care for. Of particular concern is the growth in popularity of the Siberian Husky, a beautiful dog which is notoriously willful and generally unsuitable for urban life.”

There are 30 vulnerable breeds in total and four on the 'At Watch' list. Some native vulnerable breeds have fared well, with the Norwich Terrier seeing the largest increase in numbers in the first three quarters of this year, compared to the same period in 2011. It increased by 96%, from 108 to 202 registrations. The Otterhound has also increased by 57%, from 21 registrations to 33.

However, other breeds have not been so lucky with the biggest declines being seen in the Clumber Spaniel, down by 37% to just 114 registrations and the Otterhound which has declined by 34% to just 73 registrations. The Foxhound has no registrations so far this year and the Cesky Terrier has just 25, making them currently the most vulnerable.

Outside of the vulnerable breeds, so-called ‘handbag’ dogs such as the Pug and Chihuahua continue to thrive. The smooth coat Chihuahua has increased by ten percent so far this year compared to the same period last year, to 2,669 registrations. This is a 615% increase in the breed in 10 years. The Pug has increased by 19% so far this year, to 5,496 registrations, which represents a 397% increase on the 1,105 Pugs registered 10 years ago.

To meet and find out more about more than 200 dog breeds, including those on the vulnerable list, visit the Discover Dogs event at Earls Court, London on November 10-11. For more details visit www.discoverdogs.org.uk

Lara Robbins from Cornwall has lost almost six stone, dropping from a dress size 24 to a 14, and it's all down to walking her dogs. Her achievement has resulted in success invthe Kennel Club’s Get Fit with Fido Challenge.

Lara has gone from weighing almost 18 stone to a current weight of around 12 stone, dropping five dress sizes in the process.

Lara, aged 33, decided she needed to take action when she saw a photograph of herself at a dog show. She then made the decision to lose weight and started exercising with her six dogs including taking up agility competitions.

Since then she has lost 5 stone and 11lbs - the equivalent weight of two of her Border Terriers and one of her Springer Spaniels put together. Lara is hoping to lose another stone to achieve her goal, which would mean her overall weight loss will be a staggering seven stone.

Lara said: “I’m so thrilled to win the competition, as I really didn’t expect to. I entered the Kennel Club’s Get Fit with Fido campaign as an incentive to help me lose weight and push me towards my goal. Walking the dogs and being involved in agility competitions has helped me shed the weight. Having my dogs has motivated me to exercise, and means I’ll be able to enter even more agility shows in future.”

Lara has six dogs – two Springer Spaniels, a working Cocker Spaniel and three Border Terriers. She has entered over 200 dog agility shows over the years and now hopes to take it to the next stage and compete at championship level with her Border Terrier, Magners who has recently just qualified for grade 7.

“For anyone that wants to lose weight, my advice would be to walk your dog, and look into all the different dog sports that you can do," said Lara. "Your dog keeps you motivated and makes exercise fun. When it comes to food don’t be afraid to treat yourself to the occasional meal out, as you still have to live a little, but just become aware of what you’re eating.

“After all this hard work, I’m looking forward to treating myself to a stay at the dog friendly Milestone Hotel and my makeover/photo shoot with Rosemary Conley Diet and Fitness Clubs.”

The Kennel Club’s Get Fit with Fido Challenge encourages dogs and their owners to get fit together. The competition will launch again in January 2013.

To find out more about the Get Fit with Fido challenge visit www.thekennelclub.org.uk/getfitwithfido



Lara before she lost weight.

UK Point of Sale is advising retailers to make the most of the Christmas season with key point of sale items.

With consumers starting their Christmas shopping earlier each year it is vital that retailers large and small make use of point of sale to merchandise their stores effectively.

Making sure customers can spot key items throughout the festive season is crucial for retailers in keeping a happy and stress-free in-store environment.

Shelf wobblers and shelf talkers are used all year round in many shops, but make it simple to highlight a specific product on the shelf, or a specific price promotion during the festive season.

Clip strips are an ideal way to hang Christmas confectionary when short on space. They are small and easy to place so it can be great to put them close to the till as customers will notice them before purchasing their items.

Finally, pallet card holders are perfect for displaying price promotions on larger items such as crackers or tins of chocolates, as items can be piled high to effectively use the available space.

Debra Jamieson, Sales and Marketing Director at UK POS, said: “This Christmas point of sale kit helps retailers to make the most out of available space and when used effectively, this will encourage impulse buying and cross selling even when consumers are more cautious with their spending.

"Christmas is the most important time of the year for retailers, and it is our aim to make their point of sale work effectively for the festive season, and all year round.”

UK POS has been manufacturing point of sale products for nearly 25 years and is continually adapting to changing market trends when it comes to working with retailers to market their offers.

Best selling products include acrylic free-standing poster holders and snap frames. For more information on UK POS visit www.ukpos.com or call 0161 431 4400. 

The RSPCA says it is finding it harder to rehome abandoned pets, with 12,711 dogs rehomed in 2011, compared with 16,659 in 2009.

They rehomed 29,880 cats in 2011, less than the 36,070 two years before.
Both animals are taking longer to rehabilitate and rehome than a year ago, meaning their average cost of stay is also rising, the RSPCA said.

The average stay for a dog in the year so far is 59 days, five more than last year and their average cost of stay has risen from £810 to £885.

Cats have also averaged stays of 59 days this year, four more days than in 2011 and the average cost of their stay has risen to £554.60 from £517.

The Kennel Club has approved a new official DNA testing scheme for Progressive Retinal Atrophy (GR_PRA2) in Golden Retrievers.

This test is offered by the Animal Health Trust and further details can be obtained from them at dnatesting@aht.org.uk

As an agreement is already in place with AHT to report other health test results, GR_PRA2 results will automatically be sent directly to the Kennel Club from 1^st January 2013, with the test result added to the dog’s details on the registration database.

This will trigger the publication of the test result in the next available Breed Records Supplement, and the result will appear on any new registration certificate issued for the dog, the registration certificates of any future progeny of the dog, and also on the Health Test Results Finder on the Kennel Club website.

If a dog has been DNA tested for GR_PRA2 before January 2013, and the owner wishes the result to be recorded, they should send a copy of the DNA test to the Kennel Club so that it can be added to the database.

When sending DNA results, if the owner includes the original registration certificate for the dog (not a copy) then a new registration certificate will be issued, with the DNA result on it, free of charge. 

Send any DNA test certificates to Gary Johnson, Health & Breeder Services, The Kennel Club, 1–5 Clarges Street, Piccadilly, London W1J 8AB or email gary.johnson@thekennelclub.org.uk

David Cowdrey, currently head of communications at Guide Dogs, has been appointed head of comms at the RSPCA. He will begin his new role on December 17.

Cowdrey had previously worked at World Wildlife Fund as the head of press and media relations and as a campaign director. He has also worked in media, marketing and publications roles for the Environment Agency and National Rivers Authority.

"I’m very excited to be joining the RSPCA at such an important time in its history and look forward to developing a strong communications framework in driving the organisation's brand and profile forward," he said.

"This role will combine both my passion for communications and animal welfare and will help to inform and change public opinion on key campaigns like live animal exports, badger culling and responsible dog ownership."

The appointment follows the news that the RSPCA has appointed former NSPCC director of child protection consultancy John Grounds as director of marketing and campaigns.

Cowdrey joins the RSPCA after a year in which Guide Dogs achieved national media coverage on campaigns including responsible dog ownership, while lobbying for compulsory microchipping.