The Companion Animals New Zealand and the NZ Companion Animals Register Team wish you and your companion animal(s) a wonderful, safe and fun festive season
We are almost at the end of 2023 - a year of significant challenge and change for animal guardians and their animals in New Zealand.
The impact of both La Niña and climate change, resulted in the extreme and devastating weather events experienced by so many in New Zealand which demonstrated for all of us, the importance of emergency planning and for these to include how we safeguard our animals. Companion Animals New Zealand and the NZ Companion Animal Register Team mobilised quickly to provide information from our microchip database that was needed by the coordinated emergency rescue services to help identify animals and try to reunite them with their worried owners as soon as was possible. Following the immediate national emergency, we mounted a campaign to support the permanent identification and registration of horses and ponies in New Zealand, to improve the chances of them being quickly and easily identified and traced to their owners. In 2024, we plan to extend the EQuiChip™ Community Events run successfully in Hawkes Bay and Wairarapa to other equestrian communities across the country. If you want to learn more about how to run an event, please get in touch with us, and we will provide a Campaign Guide and our support.
Making it easier for owners to find their lost pets is also why we actively promote the need for all companion species to be microchipped and registered and why we have recently completed the work to merge our LostPet Service with the NZCAR microchip database to create a “super-site” for lost and found animals. This means that if sadly you do lose your pet, you can mark your animal as lost on the NZCAR, then you will also create a free and immediate LostPet listing, that you can share across social media. Guardians who lose a pet that is not yet microchipped or registered, can still create free LostPet listings for their animals. We are proud that as a well-respected animal charity we offer incredible value. The $15 registration fee is a ‘one-off‘ charge covering the lifetime registration of an animal, with the funds used to support animal welfare causes, as well as the development of research and education programmes to improve animal lives in New Zealand.
Apart from managing the NZCAR, Companion Animals New Zealand is actively involved with improving standards of care and training of dogs, cats, horses and other pets through our NZ Accreditation Scheme for Animal trainers and behaviour counsellors. The scheme allows animal owners to select an animal behaviorist or trainer that uses only ethical, humane, positive training and behaviour modification methods, ensuring high standards of welfare. This year we welcomed a good number of new animal behaviourists and trainers to become members of our accreditation scheme. You can find the current list here: See https://www.companionanimals.nz/canz-accredited-ats-atis
Despite all of the challenges of 2023, we are also extremely pleased to have been able to continue with our plans to bring our vision of a Good Life for Animals to life through the creation of a new virtual collaborative Research and Education Centre. The Centre aims to help ‘raise the bar’ for companion animals by proactively promoting the importance of higher standards of welfare, animals experiencing mainly positive emotional states and ensuring that animal guardians have the most up to date sicnece based information about how to provide ‘A Good Life’ for the many different species of pets we enjoy. The ‘A Good Life for Animals Centre’ under the direction of former CANZ Board Chair, Professor Nat Waran, will be formally launched at the Companion Animal Conference in Hamilton in March 2024.
In addition to promoting positive welfare, we also gather information to help inform ourselves and other animal industries about the changing nature of pet ownership. These regular surveys tell us about attitudes towards desexing, microchipping and reasons for acquiring an animal. This year, we have noticed a slowdown in the number of animals being adopted from centres (especially dogs) which appears similar to what is happening internationally. Prior to and during lockdown the numbers of pets being adopted from shelters or purchased through breeders/websites seemed to increase – but we are now seeing a downturn that may be a rebound but is also likely linked with changing socio-economic factors.
So, when you are thinking about your New Year resolutions – we encourage you to think of your pets and their wellbeing.
1. Consider the best way to adopt an animal and try to support animal shelters or ethical breeders.
2. Make sure your companion has permanent, registered identification and that your contact details are always kept up to date. Obviously as the country’s largest pet Database – we recommend that you have all of the microchips of you pets – dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, horses, donkeys in one place, on your NZCAR account. We have learned from the events of 2023 that we can’t afford not to have our animals permanently identifiable and traceable back to us.
3. And finally – Your life is better for the animals you have in it – so it’s worth considering what you can do to make their lives rewarding and happy. Often in our busy lives, we forget that the quality of their life experience is completely dependent upon us being well informed about their species specific behavioural, social, mental and physical needs. Companion Animals New Zealand’s Facebook site aims to provide quality information and you can of course learn more by attending the CANZ ‘Changing Lives for Companion Animals’ Conference on March 12th 2024 in Hamilton – See https://www.companionanimals.nz/conference
Have a great festive break and we look forward to working with you all in an exciting 2024.
Warmest wishes
Nat, David and Sarah
And the rest of the CANZ Board Members, CANZ Staff and of course the CANZ Animal Team!
See our Christmas message video on the link below.
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1442476359955560