How pets positively impact society!

What triggered the creation of the? Royal Canin ?Foundation was looking back over more than 50 years and observing the data confirming how cats and dogs have a positive impact on societies.

Undoubtedly, anybody can see how living with a cat or a dog makes their owners happier, but what if their influence was even more substantial than that?

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Having each other’s back?

When we created the Royal Canin Foundation , our main objective was to show the many benefits pets have on human health. The scope of the Foundation focuses on 3 main areas: rescue dogs that save humans, pets that support human medical health, and pets in support of human mental health. It is an approach that provides the right balance between preserving animal welfare and highlighting how extraordinary cats and dogs can be.?We aim to work for impact, to do well and good, and inspire other companies and industries to do the same.?

We embrace our choices by supporting projects from around the globe that promote the positive impact of pets on human health and welfare. To do so, each year, every Royal Canin Associate is invited to sponsor external candidates during a call for projects. Associates then are encouraged to vote for the projects they want to support. The finalists are included in the Royal Canin Foundation so we can help them grow and extend their impact.

In 2022, we supported a variety of initiatives, such as:

-???????The DodoBahati Foundation to support the special anti-poaching ranger team and their Congohounds’ dogs in the Virunga National Park in Congo. This collaboration aims at setting up a clinic providing medical care for the Congohounds, street dogs and wild animals. If you are interested in learning more about the project, I recommend reading this article: https://lnkd.in/erAyHuCf .

-???????In Mexico, we are working with the BREC-K9 brigade , a voluntary group that specializes in rescue missions for collapsed structures, with resources to train dogs and generate awareness.

-???????While in Europe we supported? Asociación DogPoint ?in Spain in their mission to train and match assistance dogs for children with autism spectrum disorder ; in France, we helped scale a legal assistance dog program to a national level to offer emotional comfort and support to beneficiaries through the different stages of legal procedures, in partnership with Ministère de la Justice , Handi'Chiens and Fédération France Victimes .

The focus of the projects varies tremendously, and each year it is humbling to discover new programs where cats, dogs and humans are helping each other.

It’s often way more than just walking your dog

Both research and personal experience have convinced me that interacting daily with pets has concrete benefits for our health. For example, we know they can provide affection and love to younger and older generations. Or that petting a dog, or a cat can help reduce anxiety. It is even more prevalent in children. According to the? Waltham Petcare Science Institute , research confirmed that children aged 7 to 12 found that dogs provided emotional support and stress relief.

I find it particularly interesting to see the impact of pet ownership on seniors. Research shows that it helps them to be more active, adding 22 minutes of walking per day on average. Owning a dog is outstanding for this benefit: it allows senior citizens to reach an extra 2,760 steps daily!

Similarly, the workplace can benefit from having animals on site. At Royal Canin, we know that a pet-friendly office creates an exceptional environment for our Associates. 90% of our global premises are pet-friendly, accounting for more than 50 sites. At our global headquarters in Aimargues, 133 dogs have passed behavior tests and are now registered to come. They play an appreciable part in reducing stress and promoting collaboration by encouraging interactions between colleagues: you can attend a meeting and pet a dog all at once!

From a business perspective, it is also a true source of inspiration to have the chance to be with the cats and dogs that remind us of our Purpose.

When passion meets Purpose

An “Immense and meaningful contribution every day,” that is how Cecile Coutens defined the daily positive impact of our more than 8,000 Associates on people, planet and pets during our All Associates Webinar meeting last November. With Mutuality at the core of our approach to doing business, we operate for the good of the collective and foster connections between each Associate’s passions and our company’s Purpose: A BETTER WORLD FOR PETS.

The Royal Canin Foundation works with science and observation, by fostering partnerships with veterinarian clinics and businesses such as the Waltham Petcare Science Institute .

To conclude, when you include a pet in your life, it comes with trust and love. Pets are loyal companions at every step on the path of life, both at home and at work. It is a unique relationship based on mutual respect that brings positivity and devotion to a human-animal bond.