FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Safety Turtle breaks ground in pet drowning
prevention
Water safety alarm originally created for
children now adapted for pets and adopted by pet owners
Ottawa, ON –
Terrapin Communications, maker of Safety Turtle, today announced
the start of a pet drowning prevention campaign. The lockable
Turtle wristband was introduced in 1998 as a last layer of
protection of young children against aquatic injury. By popular
demand, a Turtle visor for seniors in aquatic physiotherapy and a
pet version followed. As a result, the company has set its sights
on making this lifesaving product more accessible to pet owners.
“Many
pet owners forget about the dangers that pools and other bodies of
water can present for their pets,” said
Bob Van Tongerloo, CEO
of the Canadian
Federation of Humane Societies.
“CFHS
believes that the Safety Turtle offers pet owners an option to
protect their pets from drowning accidents while relaxing at home
and exploring near waterways away from home. CFHS applauds Terrapin
for recognizing the need for a product that helps keep all members
of the family safe near water.”
Pools
and Pets
Though
largely unreported, accidental drowning of a pet in the family pool
is common. “Both the numbers and the circumstances of the pet
drowning stories I’ve been getting over 5 years leave me in no doubt
about this,” said Bob Lyons, President of Terrapin and inventor
of Safety Turtle. With a growing pet population
– there are
roughly 58 million dogs and 62 million cats in North America
– and
approximately 450,000 new pools per year, accidental pet drowning
will continue to rise unless something changes. Action is long
overdue.”
Although healthy dogs and cats have an innate ability to swim short
distances, escape from a pool may be a life and death struggle.
Barking is sometimes difficult once the dog is in the water. The
untrained animal instinctively heads for the closest edge of the
pool and tries to claw its way out. Panic quickly leads to
exhaustion. While animals can be trained to go the shallow end, if
they exist, the steps may be too high for a smaller animal.
Vinyl-liner pools offer no grip to the animal, and often include
only a vertical ladder, which is nearly impossible for most pets to
climb. Builders are routinely called to repair foot-long holes
through pool liners at the waterline caused by a front paw of the
owner’s canine.
“When the solar cover is on a pool, it is one of the most dangerous
times for pets. They either fall on the cover, or try to walk on it,
and go under and can’t get back up,”
said
Gae
Horrigan, dog and pool owner from LaMarque, Texas.
“We know first hand the heartbreak people experience when they lose
a pet to drowning. It’s like losing your child. Today, having the
Safety Turtle is our way of trying to make sure this will never
happen again to our beloved Westies, Duke and Tammy.”
Boats
and Pets
Pet life jackets are selling in record numbers because pets find so
many ways to fall overboard when least expected. But, depending on
water temperature and visibility, chances of rescue may be small
unless someone sees the pet fall in.
About
Safety Turtle for pets
The Safety
Turtle system for pets consists of a small, color-coded Turtle
sensor that attaches to the pet’s collar, and a Base Station. When
the pet falls or ventures into the water, an ear piercing alarm is
instantly sounded at the house [or boat] from the Base Station –
allowing the owner to immediately respond to the distressed animal.
One Base Station works with any number of pets having the same color
of Turtle sensor. Rain or ground moisture doesn’t set off the
alarm.
For more information, please visit
www.safetyturtle.com
ncorporated
in Canada in 1998, Terrapin Communications is the sole owner and
manufacturer of Safety Turtle.
