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Woo Hoo! Big Thank Yous Are In Order!
Our Customers Are The BEST!
We won Spot Magazine's reader poll for Best Neighborhood Pet Supply and Best Pet Food Consultant! It means so much to us that you took the time to vote and we are deeply grateful for your support!
WOW! Our winter food drives were a big success thanks to you. In November 1,016lbs of cat food went to The Feral Cat Coaltion and in December 4,710lbs of dog food went to The Pongo Fund (as well as $157 in cash donations at the counter). That's going to be providing so many meals for hungry animals! WOO WOO!
The PDX Pet Calendar 2019 Was a Success! Our coalition of 13 independently owned Portland pet supply stores kicked off its first meeting in November with a plan to combine marketing efforts to promote the value of locally owned stores over big box chains like Mud Bay, and to get a photo contest together and create a calendar to sell in December. We accomplished both of these things, with the creation of graphics to use in social media, an ad in Hollywood Star's December issue and an article there in January about our cooperative efforts (check out the January issue if you haven't seen it!) What a project the calendar was! Thanks to Heidi and Terrance at Meat for the big job of doing the layout. Don't forget that if you bought a calendar, there's a whole page of coupons for all 13 stores in our coalition!
Thanks to all of you who bought calendars, the project was able to raise almost $4000 for local pet rescues!
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| Winter Coat Drive!
Each year we’ve done a drive for winter/rain gear for houseless dogs and their people. Though we’ve avoided ice and snow so far this winter, being soaking wet is no joke when it’s in the 30s overnight. Gladly accepted at the store through the end of January are warm sweaters and especially rain coats for dogs of all sizes (no little dresses, etc- just practical gear), and coats/hats/gloves scarves/rain gear, etc for people. It will be distributed by The Paw Team |
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A Discussion About Orijen/Acana
We know some of you have heard that a few of our favorite pet supply stores nearby have decided to stop carrying Champion foods (Acana and Orijen), and we want to explain why we haven't made this decision absolutely final quite yet, though our finger’s on the trigger.
You have come to know us as a store that won’t hesitate to take away even our favorite brands if we decide they are doing something that could be a detriment to the health of the animals we serve. We want to assure you that we have no safety concerns about Orijen or Acana foods at this time. We do want to let you know that there are two things that have happened at Champion this year that other stores are citing as big problems:
First, troubling news about a supplier of contaminated beef fat: When news that Gravy Train (one of the very worst pet foods on the market) was recalling food due to the discovery of pentobarbital in the beef fat, it didn’t surprise us. But when we heard that Champion purchased the beef fat from the same company, it seemed to cast aspersions on the quality of their sourcing. However, this supplier of beef
fat (that is used by many companies) claimed to use only human quality material, with strict
testing protocols in place to ensure that it was not contaminated. Champion was very upset, of course, immediately dropping this supplier and springing into action to ensure that none of this contaminated beef fat ever reached the market. They tested products that this ingredient had been added to, and independent lab tests showed absolutely no pentobarbital in any of the foods. Furthermore, they disposed of all of this food immediately, regardless of negative results from this testing. Most importantly, not a single bit of this food left the plant, andnever was on a single store shelf. The FDA also performed a very thorough inspection the Champion manufacturing plant and praised them for their fast and thorough action in this matter. Some stores didn’t investigate this matter very deeply, and pulled beef products from their shelves, though none of the contaminated food was ever sent to stores. Champion handled the matter exactly as we would hope a company would.
The second reason that all of us are feeling worried is the news that a number of months ago, the Wall Street Journal published a story that Champion was in negotiations with Nestle, who had made an offer to buy Champion. This was bad news, and we’ve always dropped products that Nestle purchases, for so many reasons, including a history of ethics violations around the world, from from decimating water supplies in drought challenged areas all over the world, to including the use of slave labor on fishing vessels in Thailand and child slave labor on the Ivory Coast. This is not something we take lightly. It’s very worrisome that months later we still haven’t heard more. I did however speak to Champion's regional manager for about and hour and a half in early December to try and make a decision about keeping Champion foods. It was a productive conversation. He did admit that none of the employees including himself were being told what exactly is happening with the Nestle negotiations due to confidentiality agreements that start off all negotiations, but he was clear about the process. Apparently any large successful independently owned pet food company is fairly regularly being wooed by larger corporations. It’s happened before at Champion without press coverage and has come to nothing. The reason they take these meetings is very corporate. Hearing the legitimate offer of what a large corporation is willing to pay is a means of valuation of your brand, which affects stock prices, etc. The news of this meeting was picked up by the Wall Street journal and then other news media ran with the same story, creating a lot of consternation among retailers and the public. We've said for months that the moment we hear they've accepted a deal, we'd drop them. We have hesitated to yank a food that’s the favorite of many of our customers off of the shelves if this deal actually comes to nothing, however we are becoming very impatient, and may choose to do so - it’s been more than 6 months and this negotiation is somehow still ongoing.
Finally, I have to say we aren’t thrilled by the changes in the formulas Champion has made over the past few years, becoming more and more legume-heavy. This just in: Champion just announced that it will now be available in Petco (and we've also heard it will be on Amazon), which could be signaling that big changes are in fact occurring. They sure seem to have changed as a company in the many years we have known them. All of these things combined means that it looks like it might be time for a change for us too. Stay tuned - we'll keep you posted. |
| | Christmas Treats are Still Yummy and Christmas catnip toys are still fun!
We’re in a bit of a pickle as we purchased too many Christmas treats for the holidays. The good news is that they’re all still fresh and delicious, and they’re all 40% off! It would really help us out if you come looking for cookies and treats and you left with something that has Christmas packaging!
The cat toys filled with catnip won’t be fresh next Christmas if we put them in the loft 'til next year - luckily they’re fresh and fabulous right now, and 40% off!(all discounts taken at register). |
| | RC Pets Venture Shells
We’re often asked for rain gear that’s not lined, especially for keeping fluffy or double coated breeds dry. These Venture Shells are a lightweight nylon shell with a water resistant coating. They have leash access featuring an integrated design with storm flap cover and chest coverage for smaller sizes. They’re durable, machine washable, and are bright and reflective to keep them safe. Available in multiple sizes and two colors: Crimson and Electric Blue.
Newsletter Special: Through the end of the month, take 15% off of any Venture Shell Rain Coat!
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| | Daily Health Nuggets!
Brand New from Earth Animal, these supplements for dogs and cats are in yummy soft treat form, and they provide vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, phytonutrients, and omega 3, 6 and 9 fatty acids. “The original concept of developing the Daily Health Nuggets was based upon my concern that the high temperature of cooking dry and canned commercial pet foods destroys all the vital nutrients, vitamins and enzymes,” said Bob Goldstein, DVM, co-founder of Earth Animal. “I developed the Daily Health Nuggets to ‘naturally fortify’ the over-processed foods and add back what was destroyed by cooking.” We’re big fans of whole food supplementation for dogs and cats on highly processed diets such as dry kibble and canned foods. Though we try to carry the best in the industry, these diets are still subject to high heat and high pressure processing that damages many of the fragile nutrients such as important amino acids such as taurine, digestive enzymes, vitamins, and even affects the structure of the proteins making them less digestible. This is why most every bag of kibble or can of food has a longish list of synthetic vitamins/minerals etc in their ingredient lists.
We’ve been sampling these new treats at the counter, and they’re going over very well with the picky crowd, even picky Otis the cat says they’re pretty good. These treats are not heat processed, and contain fruits and veggies (some are fermented, some sprouted & organic), salmon oil, mushrooms, spirulina, and more, with added digestive enzymes and probiotics. We advocate for the rotation of different whole food toppers on top of your kibble meal (freeze dried hearts, fresh sardines, raw fermented goat’s milk, etc). Check out these convenient, yummy soft treats and add them to your rotation!
Through the end of the month, take 15% off of cat or dog Daily Health Nuggets!
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| | Neighborhood News
Anchors Away will be opening next Wednesday January 23rd. The owners are celebrating their grand opening with a pretzel raffle. Anytime you make a purchase you get a raffle ticket for a free pretzel! Drawings held weekly for the entire year.
Love Hive Yoga is hosting a Trauma and Resiliency Workshop with Dr. Sarina Saturn on Saturday, January 26 from 3 to 6 pm. Learn to buffer and heal from negative events through yoga, meditation, and rewarding social connections. Cost is $50. They are also offering a new member special of $30 for 30 days of unlimited classes. |
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Thank You For Shopping Local and Independently Owned! |
| | | | Located in Beaumont Village 4327 NE Fremont Street, Portland, Oregon 97213
Telephone: 503-528-1800
© 2007 - 2015 Green Dog Pet Supply. Green Dog Pet Supply® is a Registered Trademark. |
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