PetPoint Provides Solution for Pets Lost in Joplin Tornado

OAKVILLE, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - May 26, 2011) - Pethealth Inc. ("Pethealth" or the "Company") (TSX:PTZ) - After the second devastating round of tornadoes in less than a month, Pethealth staff are once again working on the ground and online to assist a local shelter coping with rescue and relief efforts for displaced pets, this time in Joplin, Missouri. Following the worst tornado recorded in the nation in 60 years, the Joplin Humane Society now finds itself in the position of managing a dramatic influx of terrified animals being brought in from the wreckage.

"This town has sustained unimaginable damage," says Jorge Ortega, Emergency Responder and Regional Director, Shelter Outreach at Pethealth. "We have several animals with rabies tags but with land lines down there's no way to contact the clinics and no way of knowing if those clinics or records even exist anymore. At this point and with the threat of more storms on the horizon, we're focusing on gathering all the information we can into electronic records for each pet in PetPoint to ensure we have a reliable database, as well as publish pet profiles on Petango.com."

Licensed by over 1,650 animal welfare groups, PetPoint is a cloud-based animal management system through which organizations can manage their incoming and outgoing animals. The ability of PetPoint to host shelter data offsite ensures that even in the event of an evacuation, the shelter would retain access to its information and be capable of operating offsite through mobile devices if necessary.

While numerous animal welfare groups have flocked to the aid of Joplin Humane to help recover pets from the wreckage and assist the running of temporary shelters, PetPoint is at the hub of a growing network of information, ensuring every pet recovered is accounted for within a single, collective database. When the time comes, PetPoint will also act as logistics provider for the transfer of pets to participating shelters and rescues via the PetPoint Transfer Network, the first and only national network through which animal transfers can be coordinated and their information seamlessly exchanged.

Following a 10 hour drive through bad weather to Joplin, Ortega and a dedicated team of volunteers have worked around the clock to manage the flow of incoming pets, diligently creating records, taking pictures, and scanning for microchips. Over the past few days, over 350 animals had been recovered.

For those pet owners seeking a lost pet, stray pets currently in the care of Joplin Humane can now be viewed at Petango.com. Although Petango.com typically features adoptable pets, by virtue of its integration with PetPoint it is uniquely positioned to connect online users with lost pets recovered from the tornado, making them accessible to a wider online audience including grassroots, web-based rescue groups and pet owners who have fled the area. By generating greater access, the Pethealth team hopes to quickly reunite more pets with their rightful owners. To date, 67 pets have been reunited with their owners, and another 12 have been located but will remain at the shelter until their families, having lost their homes to the storm, can find alternative solutions.

"PetPoint has proven itself to be an invaluable tool, both during our daily operations at the shelter and now when we are surrounded by chaos," says Karen Aquino, Executive Director at Joplin Humane. "To be able to rely on PetPoint and the help of the PetPoint Team to manage and organize the never ending flow of intakes has allowed us to focus on providing care and comfort to the animals in need. By publishing our lost pets to Petango.com we can also rely on the vast, compassionate network of people online who have mobilized themselves for the cause to help reunite these animals with their owners. We could never have anticipated how important PetPoint would become for us!"

This is the third time in less than a month that PetPoint and its associated network have been effectively mobilized for disaster relief. Earlier in May, the PetPoint Transfer Network was used to coordinate the transfer of pets from Tuscaloosa Metro Animal Shelter in Tuscaloosa following the Alabama tornadoes. Shortly afterward, the Louisiana SPCA in New Orleans, Louisiana used the network to transfer adoptable pets to Texas in preparation for the flooding of the Mississippi.

About PetPoint

PetPoint, first introduced in 2005, is now licensed by over 1,650 animal welfare organizations in North America and has facilitated the adoption of over 2.85 million pets, including nearly 800,000 adoptions in 2010 alone. As a hosted application, animal welfare organizations can not only better organize and care for their homeless and abandoned animals, but can also reduce significantly, if not eliminate, their IT related infrastructure costs. PetPoint is provided free to animal welfare organizations on the basis that these same organizations use the Company's 24PetWatch microchip program for all companion animals adopted. The 24PetWatch microchip program is the most widely used microchip and lost pet recovery service operating in both Canada and the United States.

About Pethealth Inc.

Pethealth is a leading provider of companion animal services in North America. In addition, the Company is the leading provider of management software to North American animal welfare organizations through its SaaS-based application and is the leading provider of pet related database management services to the North American companion animal industry. Pethealth offers a unique range of products and services for veterinarians, shelters and pet owners through a number of wholly owned subsidiaries using a range of brand names including PetCare, 24PetWatch, PetProtect, petPals Direct, ShelterCare, PetPoint, Petango.com and ThePetangoStore.com.

Pethealth is based in Oakville, Ontario. To find out more about Pethealth, visit the web site at www.pethealthinc.com.