SINGAPORE : The newly-passed Lemon Law will apply to the sale of pets when it takes effect on September 1.
Under the law, consumers can return a defective product to the retailer within six months, and ask for repairs, a replacement or a refund.
However, the law does not define what constitutes a defect, only that it should conform to the sale contract. The law therefore provides flexibility for both retailer and consumer to work out a mutually-acceptable agreement.
The Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) said it will advocate for buyers who can establish that the pet was sick at the time of purchase, for instance.
Its vice president, Lim Biow Chuan, said that each case will have to be considered carefully.
Mr Lim said: I think animals are more complicated because they are living things. Part of the issue would be that what happens to the animal once it leaves the pet shop.
So if for example if a pet owner does not take care and the pet falls ill, or develops some disease or contracts some viruses, then whose fault is it? So that is a very factual dispute.
A case that cannot be resolved between the buyer and seller can go to court, starting at the Small Claims Tribunal, and even to the High Court.
Consumers can be confident that the lemon law would apply if they purchase pets from established retailers. The law applies to all commercial transactions, including home breeders who put up pets for sale on the Internet, for instance. But consumers should pay attention to receipts and health certificates.
Animal welfare groups like the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) see the law as a modest step towards improving the pet retail sector.
Its executive director, Corinne Fong, said: Breeders have to raise the bar on how they do breeding. If they are conscientious, good commercial breeders, they will take pains to ensure the animals that they have are in good condition before they are sold to pet stores.
The unscrupulous ones and the ones that really do not pay attention to breeding facilities will probably have no pet store to sell to if their pets are not in good condition.
However, there remain concerns about potential consumer abuses.
What happens to a returned pet?
Ms Fong said: In all honesty? I think the pets are put down…But what happens is there are some conscientious pet breeders who may put the word out to animal welfare groups. And these well- intentioned animal welfare people will come in and take the sick pet off their hands. It isnt the best solution.
SPCAs suggestion is a retailers fund, or a sanctuary to care for these so-called lemons for the rest of their lives.
- CNA/ms
The die hard SuperPoke! fans arent going down without a fight. PaidConent reports that Christalee Abreu has led the charge in filing a class action lawsuit in December 2011 against both Google and Slide, the former of which axed the game after it had shuttered the latter. SuperPoke! Pets is slated for the chopping block on March 6, and will take all of its players purchases with it.
Well, at least Google gave players SPP Lite, a virtual display case for their in-game pets, right? Wrong. Abreu says that she has spent more than $1,000 on virtual currency within SuperPoke! Pets, all of which will become moot after March 6. Now, the lead plaintiff seeks compensation from Google and creator Slide not only for herself, but for thousands of SuperPoke! Pets players that either paid for virtual items in the game or $4.95 monthly for a VIP subscription.
SuperPoke! Pets players have sought for a law firm to take up the case since October, according to All Things D, and now not only have fans found one in Edelson McGuire but have seen the case to San Jose, Calif. federal court. Google and Slide are likely to rely on their terms of service as a defense, which basically says cry me a river to these situations (as do most social game makers). Regardless, this case could define the laws surrounding virtual currency … for better or worse.
Do SuperPoke! Pets players have a case? How will Google and Slide respond, and what could this mean for the future of virtual goods in social games? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.
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In looking at the calendar, were all kind of scratching our heads at the weather patterns this month. Its March, right??
Certainly, as a pet sitter, Im relishing it, but I realize the danger that can ensue because of the unstable weather.
The weather systems that are making some very unfavorable conditions possible are a concern for those who share life with pets of all sizes, and for those professionals like me who care for pets while their humans are away.
With the tornado watch that was issued and posted here on AnnArbor.com this evening, its the mindful thing to prepare if pets including dogs, cats and other animals are under your care.
Animals pulled from burning houses in Tonawanda and Kenmore now have a better chance at survival, thanks to Project Breathe.
First responders from seven fire departments and one paramedic agency gathered Monday morning to accept donations of kits containing masks designed to save animals suffering from smoke inhalation.
We have all been at fires where an animal needed oxygen or first aid, said Felix Coniglio, past chief and current commissioner and day captain at the Village of Kenmore Fire Department. Losing a pet in a fire is just like losing a loved one.
Project Breathe representative Chris Shand asked the assembled firefighters and paramedics how they knew an animal was in the house when they arrived at a house fire.
The people are screaming and yelling, saying, My cats! said Kenmore firefighter Dave Kimmins, who attended the event with Montana, his 10-year-old Rottweiler-golden retriever mix.
After the group received instructions on using the masks, Montana and Snickers, a 4-year-old yellow lab owned by Kenmore firefighter Bob Moreland, demonstrated the fit of the masks with the help of some treats placed inside.
Each kit contains three different sized masks, with the smallest ones appropriate for cats or dogs with short snouts, such as pugs or bulldogs.
The masks allow rescuers to provide oxygen to animals who are breathing but unconscious from smoke inhalation or to provide rescue breathing for animals that have stopped breathing but still have a pulse.
While oxygen masks designed for humans are wide and only slightly curved, the masks for pets are deep and bell-shaped to fit over the nostrils and mouth up to the eyes. We can all relate to rescuing a dog or cat or other animal, said Coniglio. Holding a mask [designed for people] in front of them isnt getting them the concentration of oxygen that they need.
In the past few years, Sheridan Park Volunteer Fire Company firefighters have pulled several pets from house fires and had to give the animals oxygen, said Brett Rider, a captain in the department. This will come in handy, rather than doing on-scene modifications with equipment designed for people, he said.
The mask kits were donated to the Kenmore Fire Department, the Kenilworth Volunteer Fire Company, Sheridan Park Volunteer Fire Company, Elwood Fire District, Brighton Volunteer Fire Company and the River Road Volunteer Fire Company, the Town of Tonawanda Paramedic Unit, all in the Town of Tonawanda, and the City of Tonawanda Fire Department.
Project Breathe, a nonprofit organization operated by Invisible Fence, was founded in 2007 and has provided more than 10,000 pet oxygen masks to first responders in the United States and Canada. The organization estimates that between 40,000 and 150,000 animals die each year in structure fires.
The organization distributed 20 oxygen mask kits to Cheektowaga fire companies in late February and plans to hand them out to nine Hamburg fire departments next week.
We want to equip every fire department in the United States and Canada with the mask kits, said Casey Wiederhold, an events director for Project Breathe.
Any fire department representative interested in receiving a pet oxygen mask kit should call 741-1566 or go to invisiblefence.com/O2 and fill out a request.
aneville@buffnews.comnull
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Have you been looking for love in all the wrong places?
Move over, eHarmony and Match.com, and head to your local animal shelter to Meet Your Match . The color-coded program evaluates shelter pets and the people looking to adopt them in an effort to match personalities, energy levels and needs.
Playing Cupid with Meet Your Match helped workers at the Richmond Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals increase adoptions by nearly 20 percent in just a few years. In 2008, when they launched the program, they found homes for 2,891 dogs and cats. Last year, 3,452 pets were placed.
At the same time, returns dropped from 13 percent to 10 percent, said Robin Starr, CEO of the Richmond SPCA.
Meet Your Match was designed by Emily Weiss, vice president of shelter research and development for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Potential adopters answer 19 questions on subjects such as whether they want a playful or laid-back pet, how their animal will spend its days and how they will spend together time with their new dog or cat.
For the pet evaluation, animals are put in a room in front of a camera. Staff members watch how quickly they settle, lie down, curl up and what else they choose to do. They watch the animals play and interact.
Pet observation sessions last only 15 minutes, but the staff in Richmond has become very adept at reading the animals, Starr said.
There is no pass or fail or good or bad, Weiss said – for human or animal.
People and pets are assigned a color – green, orange or purple – and one of three categories in each color category.
Dogs are watched for friendliness, playfulness, energy level, motivation and drive. A dog might be a laid-back couch potato, a curious busy bee or an action hero go-getter, Weiss said. Green is for dogs who like to be physically and mentally engaged, orange for middle-of-the-road dogs who enjoy regular activity and interaction, and purple for dogs who are easygoing.
Cats who test green thrive on adventurous, carnival-style living. Orange is for go-with-the-flow pets, while purples require a less exciting, library-like home where they can be nothing more than a love bug, Weiss explained.
Merope Lolis of New York, New York, tested at the ASPCAs Adoption Center as a good fit for a purple love bug – a cat that would be on its own much of the day. But she fell in love with a beautiful calico cat before realizing that it was a frisky cat who was going to need lots of attention when I wasnt available. I found that information to be very useful to me, Lolis said.
Lolis kept looking and found a 5-year-old, light gray cat named Miss Piggy that had tested as orange, in between the active greens and mellow purples. Shes had the cat since December and says it turned out to be a good match, a good fit.
In the end, she said, I paid less attention to what I thought was important – what she looked like – and more to personality and whether it would work in the long run. She also renamed the cat Christina Penelope because she was much more regal than Miss Piggy.
When Weiss was curator of behavior and research at the Sedgwick County Zoo, she developed a behavior assessment test that is used by shelters around the country. Building on that, she came up with the Meet Your Match dog program. She developed the cat match program after she joined the ASPCA in 2005.
Shelters across the country use the matchmaking programs, building promotions and holiday ad campaigns around it. Valentines Day is the most popular and comes with a reduction in the $95 adoption fee the shelter usually charges, Starr said.
However, with Meet Your Match, love happens all year long for us.
Richmond was one of the first shelters in the country to embrace the matchmaking plan, Starr said. The hike in the adoption rate didnt happen immediately, but developed gradually, after a lot of training and a dedicated staff, she said.
The best part of the program is that it encourages people to focus on things like which pet will be the right fit for their lifestyle and their personality – instead of appearance.
On the other hand, Weiss said, with pets as with people, we know love at first sight happens, and Meet Your Match is flexible enough to accommodate that. We dont want to get in the way of love at first sight.
Somestimes, Starr added, the best match is a mismatch and simply going home with the right expectations.
FILE – In this Jan. 23, 2007 file photo, Nancee Schaffner of the Rutland Area Disaster Animal Response Team demonstrates an oxygen mask for pets on Maple, a sheperd mix dog, at the fire station in Clarendon, Vt. While pet oxygen masks have been used for decades by veterinarians in offices and hospitals, their use in the field by first responders, firefighters, paramedics and animal rescue teams, has been building for about 10 years, experts say. (AP Photo/Alden Pellett, file)
Its chilly outside, and you want to light up your fireplace. But not so fast. Bay Area Air Quality officials are urging people to think of their pets before lighting up.
Advocates saythe smoke produced byburning wood is just as harmful as second hand smoke. It couldharm cats, dogs and even horses. One veterinarian says more than 10 percent of her cat patients have asthma which could be aggravated by the fumes and other particles.
During a Spare the Air warning, owners are being asked to keep their pets indoors when air quality is predicted to exceed Federal health standards for humans. And its also illegal to burn wood during the day, but there are some exceptions to the rule.
So far this winter season, there have been 15 Spare the Air alerts for the entire Bay Area.
NEW YORK (AP) Kelly Lucas blissfully wed three years ago. For her cats, it was more like hell.Happy to have married a fellow cat person, she and her husband were hopeful they could blend their pets: two males for her and a plump old moody female for him. It was a no-go, then and now.
I wouldnt call them oil and water, Lucas said. Its more like gasoline and fire. BOOM! Its been over three years and they still hate each other with a passion.
The Atlanta couple, who also have an 18-month-old human baby, keep their animal camps apart using a Plexiglas-reinforced screen door on the stairs of their two-story house. Its a measure they had hoped would be temporary.
Basically all it serves as now is a buffer so they can hiss and swipe at each other, Lucas said. We rotate them around so that they all get the opportunity to be in all parts of the house and hang out with all of us. Its nerve-racking, to say the least.
Merging pets when moving in together usually has a happy ending, but it can take time, patience, medication (for the pet), or the help of an animal trainer or behaviorist, said Dr. Chessie Green, who heads the North Carolina Veterinary Medical Association in Raleigh, NC
It goes pretty well for probably eight out of 10 of my clients who blend their families, she said. Most people dont consider their pets before moving in. Sometimes people are forced to find them new homes because they dont get along or somebody is allergic.
ROSEBURG, Ore. — Veterinarians are asking pet owners to show their animals a little love this month.
February is national Pet Dental Health Month.
Officials say that pets need to have regular dental check-ups. They have the same problems with teeth that people do, said Christy Cutting, a local veterinarian. A lot of people dont realize that, but they get tartar and plaque and dental disease, gingivitis, and those things lead to health problems.
Thats why Dr. Cutting says its important to have your furry friends mouth looked at every year.
She also adds that oral health issues can be a sign of something more serious going on in the body.
Cutting says that there are a few things pet owners can do to help their animals dental health before their pets head to the veterinarian. The thing about cleaning a dog or cats teeth, is that its not easy. Theres brushing, that would then help prevent the need for getting the dog or cats teeth cleaned.
Cutting says that veterinarians will check an animals mouth during a regular check up, so she recommends getting your pets in to visit their vet.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Like many pet owners, customers at April Lawrences pet bakery and boutique in central Iowa want the best for their four-legged family members.
That means high-quality, safe and eco-friendly products, from organic food and treats to BPA-free toys and water dishes. And they dont mind paying extra.
The customers are looking at their pets as part of their extended family, says Lawrence, adding that the organic, baked-from-scratch, healthy treats she sells at Bone-a-patreat Pet Bakery and Boutique are especially popular. Theyre better than what I eat!
Many pet owners began looking for safer products after huge pet food recalls in early 2007 that followed the renal failure and death of hundreds of animals, says Leslie May, who operates Pawsible Marketing, a firm that helps pet-related businesses, in Blue Ridge, Ga.
It really prompted people to wake up and look at whats in their pets food and whats around their pets life, in their environment, she says, adding that theres also a growing awareness of lead in dog toys made in China, and of the dangers posed by some plastics used in many pet products.
Social media sites have provided a forum for people to learn more about pet health, she says, and that also leads to a demand for safe, well-made items.
You are getting higher quality, which last longer, so you actually come out even or ahead in the end, says May.
For example, a food bowl free of the chemical bisphenol-A, or BPA, may cost twice as much as an ordinary bowl, but it can last a dogs lifetime.
Brad Weston, chief merchandising officer for Petco, a leading pet-products retailer with more than 1,100 stores, says theres definitely a trend toward healthy, eco-friendly products as pet owners project their own lifestyle choices onto their pets.
(Pets) are increasingly thought of as family members, so not only are we willing to dig deeper into our pockets for our pets, the choices we make for them are a direct reflection of our personal preferences, values and ideals, he says.
Petco stores include a Natural Shop, featuring natural and organic foods and treats. And the company has introduced a line called Planet Petco, with earth-conscious products that are non-toxic, chemical-free and made from sustainable materials.
No matter if the economy is slumping, Weston expects the trend in premium pet products to keep growing.
For the most part, as parents, we dont skimp on our kids until or unless we really have to. And same goes for our pets today, he says.
Adrian Hitt, a 27-year-old photographer from Nashville, Tenn., who creates dog portraits, says she buys pet products only from companies that are trying to be green. Consumers are becoming wiser in general, Hitt believes, and that extends to pet products.
Overall were starting to become more educated about whats in our food, our shampoo, our makeup, in our food containers, says Hitt, owners of a 5½-year-old mixed-breed dog named Benny.
May, the consultant, says her research shows that many Baby Boomers who have become empty-nesters have turned to nurturing pets. Also, more couples and individuals are remaining childless and looking for a bond with a pet, and they have the resources to spend on their beloved animals.
A lot of people, just like me, got a dog to do something with, says May, whose 7-year-old sheltie, Johann, was the impetus for her to get into pet marketing, and start a website and blog, Raise a Green Dog! He sure filled that bill . the bond — its so much more powerful than I could ever have imagined.
Erin Riley, whose company, OffthePaw.com, sells high-quality dog and cat supplies, says business is booming, and shes adding new products every day. Her Saugus, Mass.-based company offers a range of BPA-free toys and pet dishware, as well as many products made of recycled material, including eco-friendly pet beds. Organic treats are also popular. Her customers, Riley says, are often well-versed on what products are healthiest.
They are aware of what the product is made of, where it comes from and how its made. Theyre just not willing to take the risk, she says.
Riley, who has a 4½-year-old Shih-Poo named Zoe, feels the same. While there may not be much research on the effect of things like BPA on pets, she believes that if theres an effect in humans, I think it goes to say theres an effect in pets.
Pet owners who want to create a healthier environment, May says, should focus on finding the best pet food they can afford, using safe products on their lawn and for indoor cleaning, and investing in safer products that pets frequently use, such as food bowls and bedding.
Lawrence, who has been in business nearly eight years in Des Moines, says theres an eco-friendly version of just about any product.
We dont even sell a line of poop bags that isnt biodegradable, she says. You dont think people care as much as they do about their carbon footprint, but they do, and they care about their animals too.