PETPARAZZI
Pet and people in the news from around the world
Paws-on Healing
Who: Surfing extraordinaire Ricochet, an ace Golden Retriever who also happens to be a service dog
Where: Escondido, California
What’s the Story: Ricochet was an award-winning competitive surf dog at the young age of 15 months — but that is not all that makes this canine special! Ricochet has been an ambassador for surfers with disabilities and is quite possibly the only SURFice (get it?) dog in the world ever since she jumped on a surfboard with 14-year-old Patrick Ivison, who is quadriplegic. Since that exhilarating experience in 2016, Ricochet has never looked back on helping those with special needs, and even extended her friendly paws to likes of surfers with disabilities, and wounded warriors or veterans with PTSD. Just on 2 August, she surfed with children with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) at the 5th annual “Surf Away SMA With Ricochet” event held in San Diego. Quite the superstar, Ricochet was also recently featured in IMAX film ‘Superpower Dogs’, which premiered in March 2019.
We Say: Atta girl! This one is worth a follow on social media (fb.com/SurfDogRicochet) because we love a pup who is as fluffy as she is helpful and inspiring.
Better Together
Who: 15-year-old Luke and his six-legged tyke Roo Where: Kent, England
What’s the Story: We all love a happy adoption story, and the pairing of a bullied teen and a special needs puppy — reported by People magazine in August — probably comes up tops as one of the most touching we’ve read. Eight-month-old Roo was so named because she hops around on her back paws like a marsupial. Born with two extra front legs, the Labrador mix was put up for adoption online by breeders in Essex and as luck would have it, Luke spotted the special pup and the rest was history. It seems the stars were aligned for the two as Luke was feeling like the odd one out in school because of his psoriasis — a skin condition which his peers often make fun of, and now has got a best friend to match. In fact, Luke’s mother thinks Roo might help alleviate Luke’s stress from school and improve his skin condition!
We Say: Special dogs like Roo might need extra responsibilities but they also bring also extra love. We cannot be happier that Luke and Roo have found forever homes in each other.
Crazy (Rich) Dogs
Who: Jiangsu-based online pet supplies store Crazy Dog
Where: China
What’s the Story: Pet owners know it is only a matter of time before pet e-commerce booms, considering the pet care market in China alone reached USD$24.7 billion in 2018, according to a whitepaper published by online authority Goumin.com. And boom it did, when Jiangsubased online pet supplies store Crazy Dog raising USD$43.4 million in Series B funding, with Guangdian Capital and Fosun Group as lead investors in the round. This is testament to their success on platforms such as Tmall, JD and Amazon, amounting to RMB 600 million of revenue in 2018. With the new funding, Crazy Dog is now looking to extend their reach to 20 brick-and-mortar shops by the end of this year. We Say: It’s about time an Asian pet platform hits a homerun. We are rooting for more friendly competition so we get more innovative products and services such as pet swimming pools and pet barber shops for our fur kids!