Animal Transfer – the PetPoint Way!!

Many of you are regularly called upon to assist in rescue and relief operations large and small. You know that careful planning and co-ordination is required to ensure that the transfer of animals from the rescue situation into the care of the new animal welfare facility is completed in the least stressful manner possible for the animals. This Pethealth Post relates the recent experiences of the Atlanta Humane Society in their first relief assist since they began using PetPoint.

“This June, eight members of our Emergency Relief Team were dispatched to Tennessee to receive a transfer of 129 animals. What made this rescue effort different was the data entry part. This was our first relief assist after our Fall 2007 migration to PetPoint from Chameleon.

During the loading process, our entire team was busy helping the coordinating agency in any way we could. When it was our turn, our team switched gears and began to prepare our own animals for transport. This meant identifying, verifying paperwork, tagging and cataloguing every animal (same as every transport we’d ever done). When all our vehicles were loaded, and paperwork divided, team drivers assumed their positions and passengers… started their laptops!

One of the most exciting things about PetPoint is that it is web-based and easily accessible. If you can get online, you can get to your data–no special skills required! On the way to the site, we tested our wireless connections to be sure we would have connectivity for the 4 to 5 hour trip. During the return drive, our passengers (with the help of a few staff “back at the ranch”) were able to enter all 129 records. Why was this important? By the time the team arrived, the staff members at the Shelter had printed the cage cards and have all the cages prepped and ready. The result was less confusion, more efficiency!

It definitely helped streamline the transfer process. The animals were logged and properly entered into our database. Preparations at home were underway before the team arrived. We were able to make effective use of what has previously been “downtime” as well as reduce the confusion that can accompany the arrival of 129 new animals at once.”

If you are a PetPoint user you already know that transferring animals between two organizations can be even easier if both agencies are using PetPoint. Through the PetPoint Transfer Module, no extra data entry is required. Simply select the animals you would like to transfer out to a co-operating agency and the receiving shelter will obtain the complete animal profile at the click of a button. If you have not started using PetPoint yet we encourage you to call the PetPoint team at 1-866-630-7387 today to see how PetPoint can help your organization!

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ShelterCare – the $7,500,000 weapon in your armory

The battle to provide lost or unwanted cats and dogs with a safe haven until they can be placed into new and loving homes is one which you fight every day. It is unfortunate that sometimes even after a successful adoption there is still the chance that a new pet may be returned. While there is little that we can do to avoid those returns due to incompatibility or a change of mind we have provided you with a $7,500,000 weapon to help eradicate returns due to the health of the animal – the ShelterCare gift.

The ShelterCare gift is the most widely used gift of pet insurance in the world offering animal welfare organizations the opportunity to transfer the risk of post-adoption veterinary costs to ShelterCare. The success of this gift with the animal welfare community and new adopters is clearly highlighted by the fact that ShelterCare gift paid claims now total more than $7,500,000. Many thousands of new pet parents have the ShelterCare gift to thank for the fact that they could afford to pay for the veterinary treatment required by their newly adopted family member within the 30-day post-adoption period.

On June 1st this year we enhanced the ShelterCare gift by increasing the coverage amount to $750 PLUS we added two new “zero-cost” options for adopters a) the opportunity to extend their 30-day gift of insurance to 45-days and b) the opportunity to include renter’s insurance. These changes to the gift have been well received by adopters resulting in a 31% pick up in inbound call volume to our ShelterCare team. This increase should come as great news for both the animal welfare community and those newly adopted animals as it gives us the opportunity to discuss the benefits of pet insurance with more new adopters. As you are aware, people who have insured their pets with ShelterCare for life will not need to return their pet to you due to the cost of their adopted pet’s health care.

As we settle into an environment in which the majority of people are paying more attention to where their dollars are going it is more important than ever to talk to your adopters about pet insurance – monthly pet insurance is an affordable cost for most but it is a rare pet parent who can afford thousands of dollars to cover their pet’s unexpected health costs!! Give us the opportunity to help to keep your returns low – use the ShelterCare gift daily and encourage all of your adopters to call us to take advantage of our new offers.

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