Pet Owner's Friend EXPLAINED...

I'm sorry for the confusion some of you are having about our service.

I invited you to visit our website where, I hope, an explanation is clear.

For those of you who do not care to visit our site but are making assumptions
of what Pet Owner's Friend is about... let me explain.

For $19.95 a year we issue a plastic card much like a credit card. It has a
primary ID number on it, a security code, and an expiration date... just like
a credit card.

The card has imbedded printing so it won't scratch or wear off... that is...
there is a layer of clear laminate on top of the printing.

It's a bright international orange and it has specific instructions to
police, fire, medical, or rescue personnel that if this person is
incapacitated to please visit our website, click on the RESCUE button and
initiate a rescue by entering the ID number on the card as well as the
security code. That won't stop somone using a stolen card from maliciously
initiating a rescue but the security code will stop them from arbitrarily
entering other numbers.

When you enroll you get to enter as many pets as you like into the pet
database with detailed information about each pet. You also can enter as
many pet rescue contacts as you like. These would be friends or family
members who, if notified by an urgent email, would immediately attend to your
pets. There are never any additional charges to enter pets or contacts or
change them at will.

In fact, you can print as many extra cards as you like with your personal ID
and security code right off the website to use in your car, luggage, wallet,
or purse... anywhere you like.

There are never any additional charges save a $5 fee for lost or stolen cards
as we have to issue a new card and Pet Owner ID Number.

None of that information is ever revealed and in the event a rescue was
initiated the system would have no way of knowing the nature of your
emergency or your whereabouts... it simply initiates notification of your
trusted pet rescue contacts.

Originally we wanted a check-in service whereby the cardholder would check in
with us every two or three days on the website. If we didn't hear from them
we'd get worried and try to contact them... and if we couldn't... we'd
activate an urgent rescue notification to their contacts. Obviously, this
had implications as being a watch service for people as well.

We abandoned this idea because we felt people would not check-in regularly
and thus we'd have a lot of false alarms.

As a reasonable compromise we came up with the Pet Owner's Rescue Card�. The
drawback is that it depends on you being discovered so if you collapse at
home with a stroke it won't do much good. However, if you are in a car
accident or any medical emergency where you are discovered and your card is
with you then your pets will likely get immediate and possibly life saving
care.

The real benifit is the card is with you wherever you go and your data is
intact in our database so nobody is looking for slips of paper or anything
else to notify anyone you have pets at home... the information is reliably
available 24 hours a day 7 days a week anywhere in the world a computer is
connected to the internet... and this means almost ALL police, emergency, and
health care services.

Granted, it is NOT a complete solution but it can go a long way to getting
help to your pets in an emergency and at the very least, without revealing
any of your personal information, it will notify contacts there IS an
emergency.

Next week I am adding the ability for anyone initiating a rescue on the
website to include a note to contacts. This means a message can be sent in
the blind to the contacts. This would potentially identify the reporting
agent (police, fire, or medical location and a phone number to contact them)
so any of the contacts who receive the rescue alert will be able to call back
and learn of the nature of the emergency.

One argument I keep getting from people is that many of us have arrangements
before we travel... to insure our pets are taken care of. If you travel to
your local market and fall over with a stroke or get in a car accident (most
fatal car accidents occure within 25 miles of home and at speeds below 40
MPH)... who would know who you are or that you have pets at home.

Another argument is that this is only good for retired people as most of us
have friends or fellow workers who would investigate... so, on a three day
weekend you have not travel arrangements you go out on the first day and get
in an accident. It's going to be Tuesday or Wednesday before anyone really
checks up. Since you were planning to be home that evening you don't
particularly think of stocking up the pet's dishes or even their water dish.
Potentially, that's four days without water or food. It happens all the time
(check with your local animal shelter)... and pets die all the time from
situations just like this... and these are people surrounded by friends and
co-workers!

It's not just about traveling... for that matter, you could find yourself
stranded in some situation you wanted to initiate notification of your
contacts yourself.

We like to think that with the Pet Owner's Rescue Card�, as a compromise
solution, you are carrying your pet's safety with you wherever you go.

Only two people have labeled me a spammer. I made a simple appeal for help
to identify needs and get ideas to improve either our product or our
presentation of the service. For Caroline and I it is about raising money
for animal welfare.

The overwhelming majority have been completely supportive, some signed up
(and we're grateful for that)... and we have gotten some good ideas of how to
improve the system.

I did not ask anyone to come to our website and spend money as ONE person has
asserted. If I had done that it would have said to visit us... for only
$19.95 you can... bla bla bla. I believe I asked... please visit us and
offer constructive advice.

Thank you for the explanation. I agree it's a good service you're
offering. We all ought to remember our pets and make sure they're
provided for in any emergency. And it's admirable that you're donating
profits to animal welfare.
I just would like to point out that any of us can (and should) carry
that same information in our wallets. I can make a pretty
professional-looking laminated card myself, and I'd be happy to do that
for anyone for free who trusts me with their info. I probably should
have been offering to do that for people through the shelter. It would
be a fun project for me and I think worthwhile. . Then they're free to
donate to their local shelters if they want to.
I'm not criticizing your service, but just offering an alternative to
anybody who can't afford the $20. It's a good plan for anyone to carry
pet ID information.
Sherry

wrote:
Thank you for the explanation. I agree it's a good service you're
offering. We all ought to remember our pets and make sure they're
provided for in any emergency. And it's admirable that you're donating
profits to animal welfare.
I just would like to point out that any of us can (and should) carry
that same information in our wallets. I can make a pretty
professional-looking laminated card myself, and I'd be happy to do
that for anyone for free who trusts me with their info. I probably
should have been offering to do that for people through the shelter.
It would be a fun project for me and I think worthwhile. . Then
they're free to donate to their local shelters if they want to.
I'm not criticizing your service, but just offering an alternative to
anybody who can't afford the $20. It's a good plan for anyone to carry
pet ID information.
Sherry

And as I've mentioned in the past, put stickers on your doors/windows to
notify firefighting personnel about animals which may need rescuing from
inside your house/apartment/flat. It's easy enough to print stickers and
slap some waterproof packing tape over them. If anyone needs any help with
this I'll be happy to assist.

Jill

jmcquown wrote:
wrote:
Thank you for the explanation. I agree it's a good service you're
offering. We all ought to remember our pets and make sure they're
provided for in any emergency. And it's admirable that you're donating
profits to animal welfare.
I just would like to point out that any of us can (and should) carry
that same information in our wallets. I can make a pretty
professional-looking laminated card myself, and I'd be happy to do
that for anyone for free who trusts me with their info. I probably
should have been offering to do that for people through the shelter.
It would be a fun project for me and I think worthwhile. . Then
they're free to donate to their local shelters if they want to.
I'm not criticizing your service, but just offering an alternative to
anybody who can't afford the $20. It's a good plan for anyone to carry
pet ID information.
Sherry

And as I've mentioned in the past, put stickers on your doors/windows to
notify firefighting personnel about animals which may need rescuing from
inside your house/apartment/flat. It's easy enough to print stickers and
slap some waterproof packing tape over them. If anyone needs any help with
this I'll be happy to assist.

Jill

Absolutely. That's a good idea also for me to use with the ID card
deal. I could do a whole package, the ID card, the window sticker, too,
and maybe include it free with new adoptions too. Thanks, Jill!

Sherry

wrote in message
oups.com...
Thank you for the explanation. I agree it's a good service you're
offering. We all ought to remember our pets and make sure they're
provided for in any emergency. And it's admirable that you're donating
profits to animal welfare.
I just would like to point out that any of us can (and should) carry
that same information in our wallets. I can make a pretty
professional-looking laminated card myself, and I'd be happy to do that
for anyone for free who trusts me with their info. I probably should
have been offering to do that for people through the shelter. It would
be a fun project for me and I think worthwhile. . Then they're free to
donate to their local shelters if they want to.
I'm not criticizing your service, but just offering an alternative to
anybody who can't afford the $20. It's a good plan for anyone to carry
pet ID information.
Sherry


Hi Sherry,

If you would be willing to email a copy of the card, I would love to look at
it. Possibly I could offer to do something like this for our local Alley
Cats Allies (if you don't object to me using your template and making the
appropriate changes).

Thanks,
MaryL

MaryL wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...
Thank you for the explanation. I agree it's a good service you're
offering. We all ought to remember our pets and make sure they're
provided for in any emergency. And it's admirable that you're donating
profits to animal welfare.
I just would like to point out that any of us can (and should) carry
that same information in our wallets. I can make a pretty
professional-looking laminated card myself, and I'd be happy to do that
for anyone for free who trusts me with their info. I probably should
have been offering to do that for people through the shelter. It would
be a fun project for me and I think worthwhile. . Then they're free to
donate to their local shelters if they want to.
I'm not criticizing your service, but just offering an alternative to
anybody who can't afford the $20. It's a good plan for anyone to carry
pet ID information.
Sherry


Hi Sherry,

If you would be willing to email a copy of the card, I would love to look at
it. Possibly I could offer to do something like this for our local Alley
Cats Allies (if you don't object to me using your template and making the
appropriate changes).

Thanks,
MaryL

I sure will Mary. DH is on days off so I won't be playing on the
computer much till next week. I can't send a template because I use the
Mac version of Pagemaker. I can make a PDF, though, and you will still
be able to open it.
Another thing I was kind of in middle of is personalized Thank You
notes and bereavement cards with the pets name on it. (Sometimes we get
donations to honor deceased pets & send a card to the receipient's
owner). I bought some blank cards at Staple's that feed right through
the printer. They look really professional and are way easy. Some of
them I put the Rainbow Bridge thing on. I've also got a lot of cat/dog
artwork and can design logos. I'd be glad to share any of that; they
are jpg's and eps's so they'll carry over to your platform.

Sherry

Sherry

On Fri, 5 Aug 2005 16:37:35 +0100, wrote
(in article .com):

Thank you for the explanation. I agree it's a good service you're
offering. We all ought to remember our pets and make sure they're
provided for in any emergency. And it's admirable that you're donating
profits to animal welfare.
I just would like to point out that any of us can (and should) carry
that same information in our wallets. I can make a pretty
professional-looking laminated card myself, and I'd be happy to do that
for anyone for free who trusts me with their info. I probably should
have been offering to do that for people through the shelter. It would
be a fun project for me and I think worthwhile. . Then they're free to
donate to their local shelters if they want to.
I'm not criticizing your service, but just offering an alternative to
anybody who can't afford the $20. It's a good plan for anyone to carry
pet ID information.
Sherry


Please be very careful with this thinking... we did not go into this lightly
and we did considerable research. While I think your ambition is terrific
let me illustrate some of the realities.

First of all... all our pet owner's data, their pets, and their contacts are
in a monitored database that is online 24/7 from anywhere in the world.

How will you store everyone's data?... on a rolodex?... in a database?... and
will it always be with you?

If one of your members is traveling in Europe or Mexico... will authorities
there be willing to make a long distance phone call to you at their
expense?... and considering the time differences will you be willing to
answer that phone call... will you always be available?

Are you going to respond to a phone call at 3 AM on a Sunday morning to look
through your rolodex and start calling someone's contacts.

Are you willing to publish your home phone number on laminated cards people
will carry around with them?

These are the points of our service... it follows you wherever you go and
anyone with a computer can initiate a rescue at no cost to them and virtually
no inconvenience.

Maybe we have a better thought... suppose we put together a package you can
hand out to people who adopt animals that gives them our service for free for
say... 90 days. That's a full quarter year (3 months). You offer an
incentive to observe pet safety and a valuable extra when they adopt. We'll
worry about signing them up for payment after their trial period.

Again... this is not about us making money... it's about building funds for
animal welfare.

I learned a long time ago in business... no matter how well intentioned I was
it was often better to let people who are prepared to handle special tasks
manage them... particularly if they are fully geared up to do it.

Also... consider the legal issues. If you go ahead with this you need to
understand the nature of people. They can be friendly in one minute but if
their pets die because you lost your rolodex or were not home to receive a
call... you better have an iron clad agreement that relieves you of
responsibility. It's just the way it is.

As a side note... we will be offering very nice "print them yourself"
customized window placards. It's been on the drawing board for a couple of
months now.

Stan Gilbert wrote:
On Fri, 5 Aug 2005 16:37:35 +0100, wrote
(in article .com):

Thank you for the explanation. I agree it's a good service you're
offering. We all ought to remember our pets and make sure they're
provided for in any emergency. And it's admirable that you're
donating profits to animal welfare.
I just would like to point out that any of us can (and should) carry
that same information in our wallets. I can make a pretty
professional-looking laminated card myself, and I'd be happy to do
that for anyone for free who trusts me with their info. I probably
should
have been offering to do that for people through the shelter. It
would
be a fun project for me and I think worthwhile. . Then they're free
to donate to their local shelters if they want to.
I'm not criticizing your service, but just offering an alternative to
anybody who can't afford the $20. It's a good plan for anyone to
carry
pet ID information.
Sherry


Please be very careful with this thinking...

Please be very careful with your stupid replies... copy/pasting is easy, and
you seem to have a knack for it since you said the same thing to Victor.

Why are you beating this horse to death? You're doing a remarkable job.

Pecan Crusted Fish

teaspoon olive oil
1 leek, cleaned and thinly sliced
1 shallot, peeled and minced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1/4 cup cooking sherry
4 (6-ounce) firm white fish fillets
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1.. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and coat
with vegetable cooking spray.
2.. Heat a medium non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil and
sauté leek, shallot and garlic until tender, about 5 minutes; set aside.
3.. In another small skillet add pecans and sherry. Cook over medium heat
until liquid evaporates, about 10 mintues; set aside.
4.. Place fillets on prepared pan. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle
with lemon juice. Place leek mixture on top of each fillet, covering entire
surface. Spread pecans evenly on top of leeks. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or
until fish flakes easily with a fork. Serve warm.
Makes 4 servings.

Not my recipe but I'm giving it a try

Jill

Stan Gilbert wrote:
I'm sorry for the confusion some of you are having about our service.

Funny, claim you aren't spamming but you also posted this to rec.pets.birds.
Explain yourself into my killfile.

Jill

Stan Gilbert wrote:
Please be very careful with this thinking... we did not go into this lightly
and we did considerable research. While I think your ambition is terrific
let me illustrate some of the realities.

Please don't misunderstand me. I'm not talking about going into
business. I'm just talking about the need for everyone to carry ID that
also identifies them as a pet owner. Just illustrating that you don't
have to spend $20 to accomplish that.
I just don't get that extra step, to be honest. If a highway patrolman
pulls my wallet off my dead or injured body, he can either find a card
with contact information on it, or he can find a card with your website
address, where someone may or may not really understand what it really
is, relay to someone at a computer, who in turn calls my contact
people. Or he can just call the contact info. right off the card.


First of all... all our pet owner's data, their pets, and their contacts are
in a monitored database that is online 24/7 from anywhere in the world.

But that's an unnecessary use of technology. Just put the info.
straight on the "in case of emergency" card.

If one of your members is traveling in Europe or Mexico... will authorities
there be willing to make a long distance phone call to you at their
expense?... and considering the time differences will you be willing to
answer that phone call... will you always be available?

Members traveling overseas have their pets boarded in the first place,
with emergency contact. info. logged with the boarder.

Are you going to respond to a phone call at 3 AM on a Sunday morning to look
through your rolodex and start calling someone's contacts.

No, you don't understand what I meant. Everyone's cards carries their
own contact information directly on it. I'm not in the mix at all. I
just make the cards. A slip of paper would suffice, but a laminated
card, I agree, would be nice and better noticed.

Are you willing to publish your home phone number on laminated cards people
will carry around with them?

Well, again, it's not my phone number; it's that person's contact's
phone number. But I wouldn't mind anyway. It's in the book, and I carry
credit cards, insurance cards, and other very personal info. on me.
Everyone does.

Good luck with it anyway. I'm all for any kind of fundraiser that also
helps people at least *realize* they need that information carried with
thm.

Sherry