Pet Fashion

On the case … pet detective Lee Jefferies, and Ellie’s mate Gus / Pic: Jeff Herbert Source: The Daily Telegraph

IT is the “Great Dane Robbery”. A beloved four-year-old pet last seen being bundled into a car, a dognapping that has left her owners searching for clues.

But a month after Ellie was snatched from Lisarow, Jane Berkery and Kynan Gwyn still have no answers despite a $1000 reward, flyers, newspaper ads – even a cyber search via Facebook.

“It’s incredibly distressing,” Ms Berkery said, telling how their other dog, Gus the miniature fox terrier cross, had taken to whining at a picture of Ellie. “They were inseparable and we treat them like they’re our babies.”

With fears Ellie may have been smuggled overseas, her owners have called in a professional – Lee Jefferies, the real-life Ace Ventura, Pet Detective.

Set up 17 years ago, Ms Jefferies’ Pet Search Australia has looked for more than 26,000 dogs, cats, birds including a $10,000 macaw – even reptiles.

“We have a strike rate of about 85 per cent for dogs and cats,” she said. “With birds it’s about 40 per cent. They’re harder obviously.”

Ms Jefferies said the bulk of the sleuthing involved “joining pieces of the puzzle” by matching sightings and recovered animals against a database of missing pets.

Ms Jefferies said breeders were sometimes targeted but most thefts were “opportunistic” and often involved well-meaning people who believed they were giving a lost animal a home.

“There’s a lack of publicity that it is illegal to hold on to someone else’s dog,” she said.

As Ms Jefferies searches, all Ellie’s owners can do is wait – and hope. “It is urgent that she gets home because she suffers from bloat,” Ms Berkery said.

“So she needs to be taken to the vet if she shows signs of excessive sleeping, panting or is hot.”

By Nicky Park – AAP

MORE than 50 per cent of pet owners are willing to put their life on the line for their four-legged friends, a new study has found.

The New Zealand-based poll found that 58 per cent of people would return to a danger zone rather than allow their pets to perish.

Steve Glassey, a distance education student at Charles Sturt University in NSW, said 99 per cent of people deem their pet a family member.

“They’ve got quite a strong bond so that means in a disaster they’re quite less likely to abandon them if they’re told to do so,” said Mr Glassey, a former officer for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Mr Glassey conducted the online poll after discovering a lack of provisions for pets in emergency shelters was one of the reasons people were reluctant to evacuate their homes when Hurricane Katrina tore through the US in 2005.

“A lot of people failed to evacuate because they couldn’t take their pets,” he told AAP.

Mr Glassey found about 80 per cent of the 92 people he polled in Wellington would be more likely to leave their homes if evacuation centres catered for furry friends.

“It comes down to core value,” he said.

“(People are) seeing pets as more than just sentimental property, so they want to make sure that all their family is evacuated, not just select members.”

Mr Glassey said his definition of pets included all “companion animals”, but not livestock.

The results were presented at the Annual Emergency Service Conference in the capital last week.

The red carpet is primed and the lights are set. The wait is almost over – it’s time to unleash Australia’s Most Fashionable Pet.

Move over Jennifer, Miranda and Megan, Australia has a new fashion queen – Peaches, an Italian Greyhound from Cockatoo. Peaches’ uber chic attire saw this doggy diva trump hundreds of pets to clinch the crown and title. Entrants in the Make My Pet A Star competition donned their favourite fashion finery and strutted their stuff.

Owner Marina Carr, 28, designed and constructed Peaches’ winning outfit – a glamorous white furry snow queen coat, complete with tiara, and matching anklets in a style reminiscent of the golden Hollywood era. “She’s a star to me,” Marina said. “I think the whole world should get to see her. I think she’s got such a pretty face.”

The finalists at each store were showcased at www.australianpetfashionweek.com.au and the public voted online for their favourite top 12 fashionable pooches. It was then up to PETstock’s four doggy fashion judges to select the ultimate winner with the ‘X’ factor. Peaches will take home a bone-anza of fabulous prizes, Eagle Pack Super Premium dog food, and she will also become the face of hot doggie fashion label Doggone Gorgeous, and receive a fabulous range of canine couture for her doggy wardrobe.

As the eyes of the nation turn to Melbourne for the 2009 Melbourne Fashion Festival, fashionista pooch Peaches will be officially crowned Australia’s Most Fashionable Pet in a glitzy presentation at 10.30am on Monday, April 6th at PETstock Vermont. The competition had been a great success with the event now set to become an annual competition. “We were completely overwhelmed by the huge response we had from pet-lovers across the nation. Australia’s fashion-conscious canines could top any best-dressed list.”

Samantha Bomkamp – AP

ONE trip for their Jack Russell terrier in a plane’s cargo hold was enough to convince Alysa Binder and Dan Wiesel that owners needed a better option to get their pets from one city to another.

In June, the first flight for the husband-and-wife team’s Pet Airways, the first-ever all-pet airline, took off from Republic Airport in Farmingdale, New York.

All commercial airlines allow a limited number of small pets to fly in the cabin. Others must travel as checked bags or in the cargo hold – a dark and sometimes dangerous place where temperatures can vary wildly.

Binder and Wiesel used their consulting backgrounds and business savvy to start Pet Airways in 2005. The last four years have been spent designing their fleet of five planes according to new four-legged requirements, dealing with FAA regulations and setting up airport schedules.

The two say they’re overwhelmed with the response. Flights on Pet Airways are already booked up for the next two months.

Pet Airways will fly a pet between five major cities – New York, Washington, Chicago, Denver, and Los Angeles.

The $US250 ($A314) one-way fare is comparable to pet fees at the largest US airlines.

For owners the big difference is service. Dogs and cats will fly in the main cabin of a Suburban Air Freight plane, retooled and lined with carriers in place of seats.

Pets (about 50 on each flight) will be escorted to the plane by attendants that will check on the animals every 15 minutes during flight.

The pets are also given pre-boarding walks and bathroom breaks. And at each of the five airports it serves, the company has created a Pet Lounge for future fliers to wait and sniff before flights.

The company will operate out of smaller, regional airports in the five launch cities, which will mean an extra trip for most owners dropping off their pets if they are flying too. Stops in cities along the way means the pets will take longer to reach a destination than their owners.

A trip from New York to Los Angeles, for example, will take about 24 hours. On that route, pets will stop in Chicago, have a bathroom break, play time, dinner, and bunk for the night before finishing the trip the next day.

Amanda Hickey of Portland, Oregon, is one of the new airline’s first customers. Her seven-year-old terrier-pinscher mix Mardi and two-year-old puggle Penny are taking their first flight soon.

Hickey said the service was a welcome alternative to flying her dogs in cargo when she transports them from Denver to Chicago to stay with family while the she and her fiance travel to Aruba to get married.

“For a little bit more money, I have peace of mind,” she said.

It was a stressful experience in a cargo hold that spurred Binder and Wiesel to start their airline. Their Jack Russell terrier, Zoe, flew once in cargo and Binder said they worried about how the dog was doing, but were unable to check on her or get information. The couple soon started looking for a better solution.

“One time in cargo was enough for us,” Binder said, walking through an airplane hangar as Zoe trotted in front of her.

“We wanted to do something better.”

The company, which will begin with one flight in each of its five cities, is looking to add more flights and cities soon. In the next three years, Binder hopes to fly to 25 locations.

Anne Banas, executive editor of SmartTravel.com, questions the viability of an airline with such a specific niche.

“I’m not sure how sustainable it is,” she said. “But if people are trying to go for a first-class service, it could make sense.”

She said the service’s popularity could spike in peak summer or winter months when airlines in some areas don’t allow pets to travel.

Betsy Saul, co-founder of Petfinder.com, which has ranked the pet-friendliness of airlines for three years, said she’s excited about the expected impact Pet Airways will have on pet travel across major airlines.

“The entire industry will stretch because of Pet Airways,” she said. “It’s a challenge that says ‘let’s make this (experience) better for pets.”’