Annual Convention Helping Animals for Ten Years

Pet Sitters International is celebrating ten years of donating items to charitable pet organizations during their annual convention held Sept. 16-18 in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

The 2005 Charity Auction will be featured during the organization's 11th Annual Quest for Excellence Convention. Recipients such as Canine Companions for Independence, Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, Therapy Dogs, Spay/USA, Dogs for the Deaf, Guide Dogs for the Blind, and ASPA Education Materials will benefit from the event.

Each year Pet Sitters International (PSI) members donate items to be sold during the convention. Those who can't attend can still make a contribution to the charity.

As an added support for members the organization has added a support system called the Ambassador Program. The International region covers Australia, Canada, the Cayman Islands, China, England, France, Greece, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales.

In November PSI, a bonded and insured company, continued Canadian expansion. PSI has grown to more than 6,700 members in the past ten years. Currently PSI has members in Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.

"Canada is largely a new frontier for us," said Patti Moran, PSI president. "I believe PSI can provide Canadian pet sitters the needed resources and networking opportunities that have been so invaluable to counterparts in the U.S."

Of those resources, PSI, founded in 1994 and based in North Carolina, offers a broad range of educational and support programs for Canadian sitters. The demand for professional pet sitters stems from more and more of today's pet owners considering their pets part of the family and professional pet sitting is one of the fastest growing home-based businesses in the world today, according to Moran.

In the past, traveling pet owners had few choices caring for their animals while they were away.