Rollover to the Rescue

PIJAC Canada Members help High River Pets 

When the flooding began in High River it seemed as though the water would never stop.  As levels got higher, people were evacuated and had to leave their pets behind.  Days later these animals began to be rescued and put in temporary shelters.  Some shelters were owned by rescue groups and others in people’s homes and farms.  

Cut off from her office, Belinda Elyzen, Director of Sales and Marketing for Rollover Pet Food Ltd.,a member of PIJAC Canada, logged onto her laptop and began contacting her clients letting them know they were being waylaid by the flooding.  One call Belinda made was to Linda Klaassen at Pan Pacific Pet (food and supply distribution) in BC.  As they spoke an idea took root and the two women began devising a plan on how they may be able to help the pets of High River.  Before long Belinda had received another call from Phil Klaassen, of Pan Pacific Pet (also an association member), saying they wanted to help and asking if she had anyway to pick up and deliver donations.   Belinda being the industrious person she is hooked up her horse trailer and sped off to their Calgary location . At this point I would like to add that a couple weeks prior Belinda had been in an accident with her horse and was doing all this with a fractured pelvis.  

Twice Pan Pacific loaded up Belinda’s trailer with dog and cat food, crates, bedding, disinfecting wipes, exercise pens, litter and litter boxes.  In addition to organizing and transporting these supplies to High River, Belinda,  her friends at Country Cuts, Cyndi’s Pet Palace and others opened their farms to take in homeless animals.  The supplies were then delivered to wherever the needs were, including the Heaven Can Wait Animal Rescue who was positively overrun with cats.  Because a number of the animals who had been rescued did not have identification, these good samaritans set up www.highriverpets.com which includes pictures of the animals in hopes of reuniting the pets with their families. We are happy to report that they are successfully achieving their goal.  It is also important to note that many of the evacuees are seniors that are not internet savvy and therefore do not know where to look for their animals so many pets, mostly cats, are still in temporary accommodations. As the days march on, Belinda and the volunteers are hopeful that each pet will be returned to its family. 

We also want to take a moment to mention the generosity of Trueman Distribution who also donated desperately needed cat crates and to all our members around the country who have been sending help in any way they can.  If you have a story to share of how your company or another has helped pets during this crisis or in any other situation please let us know so we can share it "The Voice" e-newsbrief and Linkedin.  For over a year we have been running a campaign called "Animal welfare is everyone’s business!"TM, these last weeks have been a perfect example of how the industry truly cares about the wellbeing of our pets.  Thank you to Belinda at Rollover, the amazing team at Pan Pacific Pet and everyone out there who has stepped forward to help.