The inaugural Jetpets Rescue Awards 2018 launches in Sydney to celebrate and recognise achievements in companion animal rescue Australia wide.
Cathy Beer of Pets4Life officially launches the Jetpets Companion Animal Rescue Awards 2018.
Animal lovers from rescue groups, animal shelters, pet businesses, veterinary industry and the media gathered at the Coal Loader Sustainability Centre in Waverton where the awards categories and judges were revealed. The event was hosted by awards founder and pet rescue advocate Cathy Beer of Pets4Life, an independent education resource for cat and dog guardians and those thinking of getting a pet.
Australia has over 900 rescue and animal shelters supported by thousands of volunteers¹. “I’m excited to launch the Jetpets Rescue Awards 2018 today,” said Cathy. “Companion animal rescue and sheltering have come a long way and it’s time to celebrate their achievements!”
This year, Jetpets is the Platinum Rescue Hero and naming Partner. Jetpets Managing Director Sandy Matheson said the Jetpets team is passionate about rescue animals finding loving homes and understand just how much companion animals enrich people’s lives.
“Jetpets are thrilled to be the Platinum sponsor of this year’s inaugural Rescue Awards to support and recognise the great work being done by shelters across the country, and to celebrate our mutual love of animals,” said Sandy.
Awards categories
There will be seven award categories, with one winner for each category. Award categories 1 – 6 are for rehoming organisations. Award category 7 is for Aussie pet guardians who have adopted or fostered a pet.
- Outstanding Rescue Group
- Outstanding Animal Shelter
- Outstanding Council Animal Shelter
- Innovation in Rescue
- Community Education and Outreach Program
- Volunteer of the Year
- Advocate® People’s Rescue Story
Judges
The judges for award categories 1 – 6 are:
- Nell Thompson, Coordinator for Getting To Zero (G2Z) and committee member of the Australian Institute of Animal Management (AIAM).
- Tim Vasudeva, Director of Corporate Affairs at Animals Australia.
- Vickie Davy, Co-Founder & joint CEO of PetRescue, not for profit organisation that brings thousands of rescue pets face-to-face with thousands of potential adopters every day.
- Dr Anthony Bennett, Veterinarian & Co-star of Lifestyle Channel’s TV series Village Vets.
- Sandy Matheson, Founder & Managing Director of Jetpets, a pet travel company focused on the safety, comfort and welfare of pets.
- Dr Anne Fawcett, Animal Welfare Veterinarian. Dr Anne’s blog is smallanimaltalk.com.
- Dr Michael O’Donoghue, Small animal veterinarian and Co-Founder of ‘People and Pets’, a nationwide grief and pet loss counselling service.
The judges for Category 7 Award ‘Advocate® People’s Rescue Story’ are representatives from Bayer and Pets4Life. Full bios and photos of the judges can be found at rescueawards.com.au.
Pets4Life welcomed renowned animal behaviourist Dr Joanne Righetti of Pet Problems Solved, as the Awards Ambassador.
Peta Clarke of K9Scentral enthralls guests with a Nose work Demonstration.
Companion animal rescue supporters were also treated to a K9 Nose Work® demonstration by celebrity animal trainer Peta Clarke and her sniffer-loving canine.
“After almost six years of introducing dogs and their owners to the benefit of nose work activities, we have seen so many dogs benefit from this seemingly simple activity. The dogs that suffer from anxiety are the real winners here. I really believe there will come a time when this activity is mainstream in shelters and rescue organisations throughout the world,” said Peta.
How to enter
Entries open 12pm on July 1 and close midnight on August 31. To enter, visit www.rescueawards.com.au.
View a video of the Jetpets Companion Animal Rescue Awards produced by Ruff Diamonds.
Visit here for hi-res photos. Photos credited to Jo Lyons Photography, the Awards official photographer.
For updates on the awards program, please visit www.rescueawards.com.au or follow the Rescue Awards on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. #jetpetsrescueawards2018
About Pets4Life
Pets4Life is an independent education resource for cat and dog guardians and those who are thinking of getting a cat or dog. Our goal is to help reduce cat and dog surrender and improve pet well-being in Australia. Our mission is to help families make better choices and become even better pet guardians. Cathy Beer is the Founder of Pets4Life. After over 20 years in the corporate world as a professional marketer, Cathy pursued her passion for pet welfare and created Pets4Life in 2013 after interviewing leaders in the companion animal welfare space. Cathy is a final year student at the Delta Institute of Australia to attain a Cert IV Companion Animal Services and an accredited Delta dog trainer. Cathy is a voluntary member of Willoughby Council’s Companion Animals Committee. Visit pets4life.com.au
About Jetpets
As Australia’s leading pet travel company, Jetpets safely and comfortably transports thousands of pets around the country and the globe every year. We love nothing more than reuniting and bringing families together. We do so with an experienced team of pet travel experts, comprising of Pet Travel Consultants, Pet Handlers and Resident Vets. We provide a complete pet travel service, taking care of everything involved in transporting a pet from their home to their final destination. For helpful information on pet travel related topics visit www.jetpets.com.au, or contact a Pet Travel Expert on 1300 668 309.
About Peta Clarke
Peta Clarke’s journey with animals has been the foundation of her life. As a professional trainer of both domestic and exotic animals for almost a quarter of a century, Peta thought she had them figured out until she found K9 Nose Work®, scent work for dogs. Watching a dog that is totally engrossed in the hunt, working on following an odour to its source is fascinating and has given her an even higher respect of these most incredible animals. Peta currently trains and competes with two Chihuahua crosses, Quinn and Sparrow. Both have passed all their Odour Recognition Tests on their first attempt and Peta was honoured to run Quinn as the “dog in white” at the first Nose Work 1 trial in Australia in 2015. Peta has judged several odour recognition trials for ACSW (Australian Canine Scent Work) and has stood in as judge at Nose Work 1 level. More recently, Peta set up K9Scentral, the scent work arm of her Animal Training business, Animal Training Solutions. K9Scentral run classes, workshops, mock trials, camps and games days to help spread the word and educate the great community that comes with this incredible new dog sport.
