December has arrived and so has our final edition of the Good Life newsletter for 2024. This issue, we share our summer safety (and summer fun!) messaging and ask you to help us to help many vulnerable animals tomorrow for Giving Tuesday.
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Join us for Giving Tuesday |
Tomorrow is Giving Tuesday! 🌟 This global movement, celebrated every December, inspires people and organisations to come together and make a difference. On 3 December, countless causes will be championed around the world — don’t miss the chance to be part of something amazing! 💖
This Giving Tuesday we're hoping to reach our target of $6000 towards desexing and microchipping funds — it is ambitious in just one day, but we hope you can help!
Every year here at Companion Animals NZ, we give money towards important desexing and microchipping funds - last year we gave $180,000 which helped more than 30 shelters around the country. Donations of any size are welcome and you can remain anonymous of course. You can donate ahead of tomorrow too! Watch our fundraising tracker throughout the day to see how close we get to our goal too (in the hopes we smash the goal of course!).
If you're unable to contribute at this point, we'd love if you'd be so kind as to share the word about our campaign with your friends and family, and on social media. Watch our video below to get a sense of why we are so passionate about these grants. |
Coming soon: Summer video series |
We're excited to be organising a series of summer videos with information targeted at dog guardians. Aptly named our 'Summer Pet-iquette' series, these videos will be packed with practical advice to help pet owners make the most of summer adventures with their canine family members!
- Beach behaviour basics will guide you through essential "pet-iquette" for dog-friendly beaches, covering everything from respecting beachgoers to safety tips for avoiding hazards like hot sand and strong currents.
- Top tips for travelling with pets and exercising safely in hot weather will highlight must-know advice for safe and stress-free summer trips, complete with surprising statistics on heat-related incidents to help you stay informed.
- Long lines and safe play will demonstrate how to use long lines effectively, ensuring your dog enjoys the freedom to explore public spaces while staying safe and secure.
Once again, we will have trusted professionals join us to create this content and will make them available for you to watch as soon as they're done. Stay tuned for more soon! |
Research opportunity: Good Animal Citizens |
What does it mean for pets to be "good animal citizens"?
Companion Animals NZ is exploring this exciting concept to ensure pets positively impact their communities, the environment, and other animals.
We’re diving into how responsible guardianship can sustain public acceptance of pet ownership in New Zealand, starting with cats and dogs. |
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You will be asked for your insights on what cats and dogs should (or should not do) in order for society to accept them as ‘good citizens’. It should take approximately 10-12 minutes to complete.
Share your thoughts, experiences, and ideas as we work together to define "good animal citizenship" and create tools to support it. Let’s ensure our pets remain valued members of our communities. 🐾 |
12 pet names of Christmas |
Christmas is creeping up fast and we’re feeling the festive cheer already!
For the first 12 days of December, we're sharing some of the most festive pet names on the New Zealand Companion Animal Register.
Missed days one and two? Never fear! you can check them out on our NZCAR social pages. But we can give you a clue - they both help Santa pull his sleigh! |
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Speaking of Christmas, we’ve also put together some festive safety tips to help pet owners keep their animal companions safe and out of harm’s way during the holiday season! 🎄🐾 |
Already made your cat an indoor-only cat? |
Following the positive response to our last newsletter, where we invited people to take part in a study capturing the experiences of owners transitioning their cats to indoor-only living, we’re now reaching out to those who’ve already made the switch!
We had feedback from some of you keen to share your experience and now is that time. |
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As more New Zealanders consider indoor housing for their cats due to urban living, individual pet health needs, and environmental concerns, this research aims to provide valuable insights into both the challenges and benefits of this transition. While the initial phase is focusing on monitoring cat behaviour before and after the move, we are now gathering feedback from the public to learn from the experiences of those who have already made this change.
We'd like to remind everyone that our research around this remains neutral, in that we're not
not advocating for any particular way of housing cats. Rather, we want to ensure that there is research on providing a cat a Good Life in any housing scenario! |
Next year we will be carrying out more canine research, so if you've been holding out for some dog research projects to participate in - don't worry, they're on the way! |
Understanding and meeting the unique needs of goats
Here, we ask Dr Gosia Zobel questions about the latest evidence-based information on giving goats a Good Life.
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Te Tohu Maimoa winners announced
We were proud to announce the November 2024 Te Tohu Maimoa winners, recognising the contribution of people involved in the wellbeing of companion animals in the past six months.
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Luna takes top spot again as NZ's most popular pet name
In November, we unveiled the 2024 top pets names from our NZ Companion Animal Register. Is your pet's name on the list?
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Your privacy is important to us. We are committed to protecting your personal information and will not share it with third parties without your consent. |
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