Healthy Spot Family 1, Petsmart 0
All hands, man your battle stations! This time around, we luckily did not have to bring out our battle armor. However, to witness a mammoth-sized competing Petsmart billboard propped up smack-dab above Healthy Spot in West Hollywood, left us frankly, aghast. It was unbelievable! How could a big corporation use such a direct attack marketing tactic right in front of our face? Blink. Another look at the sign, and yup, it was still there, as far as the eye on Santa Monica Blvd could see. Has anyone ever felt the slap of a white glove to the face for a duel?
Now, like any other business in the U.S., we are all for competition. This is what the U.S. is all about. However, the all-too-coincidental shameless plug right above the core heart of our small but valiant business felt like a low blow. A punch to the groin. My heart personally sank a little bit. Just when you think you’ve seen the grimmest of clouds, little did we know a dazzling fireworks-show was soon to appear.
One by one, our faithful Healthy Spot family members took notice of the giant billboard as they dropped by. In only a matter of a few hours, word spread across our Healthy Spot network. Reaction to the billboard turned into immense support and love from our loyal friends, local and nationwide! Thanks to the interweb highways via Facebook and Twitter and exponential communication growth, at the end of the day we received support in the form of hundreds of comments and shares. A few of the local news outlets covered the towering impression they left sitting on top of the little guy including, LAist, West Hollywood Patch and the local NBC channel 4 news.
It took only 3 days for all of our efforts to evoke change, and we couldn’t have done it without you! As of today, they replaced the billboard with a lovely LA Kings billboard.
That’s right Los Angelenos, let’s take pride in our hometown hockey team! To the entire Healthy Spot family, thank you for spreading the word and publicly expressing your outrage. Our 2-year anniversary present wasn’t exactly the billboard itself, it was the end result of a mass-movement rooted with love and spread like wildfire via the internet. To Andrew and Mark and the entire Healthy Spot crew, the love and support spawned from this moment is only a testament to the caring relationships you keep with all of your fans. Keep on, keeping on. Sometimes, all it takes is one random bully-moment to make you realize how tall we all stand together. The little guys sure do get a lot of love. HAPPY 2-YEAR ANNIVERSARY, HEALTHY SPOT WEST HOLLYWOOD!
Through the LA Newswire
This week, there have been some valuable news stories for all you dog owners out there that we wanted to give you an update on, in case you haven’t heard…
ENCINO dog owners beware..
There have been several reported incidents of dogs who have been harmed, including 1 death, due to poisoning. This is a little reminder we should keep an eye on our dogs as much as possible. While acts like these break our hearts, we must ensure we keep our dogs as safe as possible and if there’s anything suspicious, be sure to contact the authorities. Learn more from the LA Times.
MICROCHIPPING may become the law in California…
and that’s good news! California legislators are considering a law that will require every cat or dog adopted at an animal shelter to be implanted with a lifesaving microchip. Read more about the microchipping law that may go into effect.
At Healthy Spot, from time to time, our friends from Found Animals will host microchipping sessions, oftentimes at a low cost sometimes as low as $5!
1.5 ACRE DOG PARK Coming Soon
The 1.5-acre park in the northwest section of the Crescenta Valley Community Regional Park will have separate entries and areas for small and large dogs. It will include drinking fountains, water faucets and hose-off and shady areas for the dogs, plus benches for their owners. Read more about the first LA COUNTY pilot progam dog park.
Have you heard something in the news about dogs that’s worth sharing? Let us know!
Recall Alert: Blue Buffalo
We’d like to let you know about yet another recall to hit dog food recently. Though we do not carry this product line at Healthy Spot, we would like to keep our Healthy Spot family informed, in case you may have purchased this item elsewhere or have friends and family who might be affected.The latest food recall news you should be aware about is from Blue Buffalo Company, Ltd., recalling certain dry dog food because of excess Vitamin D that can affect the health of some dogs. The products affected in this recall are.. (read more..)
read more
SuperZoo 2010 Recap
From training your cat how to pee using a toilet, to booster seats for your dog to join you at the dinner table, SuperZoo is the place to witness not only the latest whiz-bang gadgets and gizmo’s for your pets, it also serves as an important research portal for us to select and provide you only the best food, toys, grooming products, etc. for our furry fellas. Check out pics and read more..
read more
The Great Flea Debate: Bio Spot Concerns
Itchy little irritants. That’s the only thing you think of when you picture these pesky little hop-happy critters out to torment our beloved pets. You may recall our recent article on basic flea 101, and now we’ve got fleas on the mind again.
The growing concern with the use of flea control products, specifically Bio Spot, has been escalated recently with a class action lawsuit that was filed in federal court in San Francisco against Bio Spot flea and tick spray. It’s clear that there were enough complaints to warrant general concern. At Healthy Spot, we do not carry Bio Spot but we should keep abreast of all the latest news and products to see how it affects us as pet owners. So what’s the deal? What’s all this hub-bub about flea control? Are our pets safe? What should we do about it?
read more
IAM(S) Disappointed – A Recipe For Disaster
This past Wednesday, It was announced that Procter & Gamble is acquiring Natura Pet Products. This is a very sad day for pet parents and a major shift in the pet industry.
Natura is the maker of great foods like EVO, Karma, Innova and California Natural. It was a family run business since 1992. Natura owns their own manufacturing plants and were never involved in any pet food recalls. In order to keep the integrity of the company and free from undue influence, they refused to sell to big box retailers such as Petco, Petsmart and Walmart. They were a shining example of success through the independent retailer channel with a high quality product.
Now compare Natura to Procter & Gamble. P&G owns some of the largest names in pet food, IAMS and Eukanuba. They are sold at all the big box retailers and even at some liquor stores and mini-marts. Both brands were major offenders in the massive pet food recall of 2007 (http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/petfoodrecall/#Dog). The sourcing of cheap ingredients to make money led to the deaths of thousands of pets.
read more
Recent Comments