EVERYONE from pet lovers to fur parents should make their way to The Square by Jaya One for its fifth-year anniversary campaign “Truly Yours, Truly Pet-Friendly”.
Running throughout the month of July, the campaign’s various activities and events will reaffirm The Square’s core beliefs and values as a pet-friendly space built on the foundation of championing social responsibility.
According to Jaya One Marketing and Communication department head Ellis Teh, one of the celebration’s objectives is to express gratitude and appreciation to the pet-friendly community and the general public, as The Square would not exist in its current shape and form were it not for all the guidance, tolerance, advice, and feedback given by pet owners and visitors over the past few years.
Five years strong
Though The Square is relatively young, it was actually the natural byproduct of Jaya One’s decade-long championing of the fundamentals of social responsibility through its age-old collaboration with Malaysian Dogs Deserve Better (MDDB), an animal welfare organisation.
In 2018, The Square was revamped with four key “pillars” in mind: re-homing programmes, education programmes, pet-friendly restaurants, and working spaces, along with events and bazaars.
These were done to support the demand for a more comfortable pet-friendly space that could cater to the lifestyle needs of fur families, as well as to help the community develop responsible and caring behaviour towards animals, preventing animal cruelty and neglect in the long term.
To date, The Square has successfully supported over 1000 rounds of pet adoption initiatives by working with over 100 pet shelters, animal rescue groups, animal-driven organisations, and non-profit communities to help rehome over 2000 pets.
Shifting towards adoption
Questioned on the recent news of backyard breeders by theSun, Teh explained that the only way it stops is to adopt pets.
“Adopt. Don’t buy. Then slowly, we can cut it down because it’s in demand.”
Asked whether the statistics translated to a shift in Malaysian mentality away from buying and towards adoption, Teh pointed out that there has been a visible increase in pet adoption in the past few years.
“When I look at the adoption drives for the past 15 years, they’ve been successful, and I can say the animals being adopted are not even famous breeds; they’re mostly strays.”
The demand for pet adoption has become so high that Teh pointed out that there are regularly three to four adoption drives each month.
When asked if The Square’s pet-friendly concept will ever be implemented through the entirety of Jaya One, she implied coyly that it may happen, but only after various other aspects are taken into account first.
Moving forward, Teh explained that The Square is committed to continuously improving its facilities to cater to diverse pet families, such as the existing pet toilet, pet-friendly lift, trained pet marshals, and the new pet-friendly entrance route.
Eventful July
For the remainder of July, each weekend will see special activities that attendees can look forward to.
These include a masterclass and demos on German Shepherds, a pet emergency response workshop, a pet agility challenge, an adoption carnival, pet movie day, and more from July 1-23.
Pet owners can also get their pets a stunning personalised front cover magazine feature of their choice for FREE by sending in their pet photos taken in The Square here: https://forms.gle/rbnscHDDfFtfEeib7
Supported by pet-friendly restaurants in The Square and the retail linkway, pet owners can also enjoy 10% off their total bill when dining with their pets throughout the month of July.
Following the launch of the month-long tribute on July 1, pet families can enjoy a host of amazing events by checking out The Square’s social media for the latest updates.
Admission is free for all the pet-friendly events.
For more information, visit .jayaone.com.my