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Dallas – Dallas Animal Services (DAS) has been selected as a finalist in the Petco Foundation’s 2019 Innovation Showdown and will have the chance to compete for $450,000 in lifesaving funds. From the hundreds of idea submissions across the country, two finalists (including DAS) and seven wildcard contenders were selected. In April, DAS and two other groups will pitch ideas live on stage to the innovation investors at this year’s Humane Society of the United States Animal Care Expo in New Orleans.
With the 4th largest dog and cat intake shelter in the nation, DAS understands the importance of maintaining a high-level of customer service for its 55,000 square-foot facility. To enhance the customer service experience and access to DAS’s services, the Dallas90 Shelter Service System (Dallas90SSS) was developed as an innovative app-based customer service program. Some of the features of the app include:
- Map to help navigate the shelter to find an animal’s kennel
- QR codes to retrieve information about animals
- Staff notifications for meet-and-greets
- Adoption or lost pet reunion with the push of a button
- Sign up to foster or volunteer
The app also allows customers to utilize a Facebook portal integration to access face-to-face help in real-time from the adoption team without ever leaving the kennel of the selected animal. The Dallas90SSS improves customer service while also reducing wait time and crowding in the lobby by utilizing a virtual queue system which leads to less time waiting in line and more time interacting with animals.
“We believe that the Dallas90 Shelter Service System will put us on the path to premiere customer service and sustaining the highest lifesaving possible, which means a safer and happier Dallas for both people and animals,” said Ed Jamison, Director of Dallas Animal Services.
“In the business of saving animal lives, innovation is critical,” said Petco Foundation President Susanne Kogut. “We are thrilled to partner with the Innovation Investors from the nation’s top animal welfare organizations to be the catalyst for change and reward organizations for their lifesaving innovation.”
Innovation Showdown is a collaborative project bringing the nation’s top animal welfare organizations together to invest in lifesaving innovation. Modeled after Shark Tank, participants seeking funding to save animal lives will present their best lifesaving animal welfare ideas on stage to the Innovation Investors (which include leaders from the Annenberg Foundation, ASPCA, Best Friends Animal Society, The Jackson Galaxy Project, Maddie's Fund®, Mary Jo & Hank Greenberg Animal Welfare Foundation, Michelson Found Animals Foundation, the Petco Foundation and the WaterShed Animal Fund).
DAS’s presentation will consist of a video, brief pitch and a Q&A from the investors. The Innovation Investors will then collectively agree on the amount of investment to grant each of the three organizations pitching their ideas live on stage.
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About Dallas Animal Services
Dallas Animal Services' mission is to help Dallas be a safe, compassionate, and healthy place for people and animals. We are an open admission municipal shelter and currently take in nearly 34,000 dogs and cats annually, making us the 4th largest dog and cat intake shelter in the country. We strive to lead the nation in compassionate care of animals while finding positive outcomes for all placeable pets through innovative shelter operations and community engagement.
About the Petco Foundation
At the Petco Foundation, we believe that every animal deserves to live its best life. Since 1999, we’ve invested more than $250 million in lifesaving animal welfare work to make that happen. With our more than 4,000 animal welfare partners, we inspire and empower communities to make a difference by investing in adoption and medical care programs, spay and neuter services, pet cancer research, service and therapy animals, and numerous other lifesaving initiatives. Through our Think Adoption First program, we partner with Petco stores and animal welfare organizations across the country to increase pet adoptions. So far, we’ve helped more than 5.5 million pets find their new loving families, and we’re just getting started. Visit petcofoundation.org to learn more about how you can get involved.
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