Mars Petcare and Nashville Civic Design Center Team Up to Improve Pet-Friendly Policies, Practices, Partners

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Nov. 3, 2016 — Nashville is about to get a little friendlier for residents with wagging tails and four paws. Two local leaders today announced their shared commitment to making Nashville a more pet-friendly city through design, development, and transformational partnerships. Franklin-based Mars Petcare and the Nashville Civic Design Center (NCDC) convened at NCDC’s annual luncheon, a gathering of more than 550 civic, government and design leaders to discuss and showcase issues of urban design and civic engagement.

One of the announcements at today’s event focused on identifying ways to form a model for what a truly pet-friendly city should look like, the primary objective of the Mars Petcare-NCDC partnership. With families having fewer children and more dual career households, increased urbanization, and rising negative perceptions of pets as noisy or aggressive, the safety and security of keeping families and communities pet-friendly is at risk. This partnership sets out to address these issues by developing a model for change that can ultimately be adopted by business, design, development, government, nonprofit, education, neighborhood and retail partners.

“Creating a Better World for Pets® is what drives us every day at Mars Petcare, and we want to make it even easier for people and pets to thrive in our city,” said Jam Stewart, Director of Corporate Communications, Mars Petcare. “NCDC’s expertise in urban planning will be integral in helping us design a true model to define how cities like Nashville can operate in a world where we’re seeing more and more pets in cities – truly bringing our vision to life.”

Mars Petcare and Nashville Civic Design Center, with support from the City of Nashville, will leverage their expertise to help the city meet its broader animal welfare goals, bringing their collective team of partners and volunteers to help bring the vision of a pet-friendly city to life as part of Mars Petcare’s commitment to creating BETTER CITIES FOR PETS™.

“Nashville Civic Design Center’s focus on creating healthier, more livable communities for all fits perfectly with Mars Petcare’s BETTER CITIES FOR PETS™ initiative,” said Gary Gaston, Executive Director, NCDC. “We are thrilled to be in partnership with Mars Petcare in shaping healthy communities for people and pets – in Nashville and beyond.”

This partnership builds on years of commitment by Mars Petcare to the Nashville area, including long-standing support of local animal shelters. From dedicating Associates’ time volunteering to supporting adoption events throughout the year, Mars Petcare supports these partners who work tirelessly to place as many pets in loving homes as possible in Middle Tennessee. For more information on Mars Petcare’s commitment to creating BETTER CITIES FOR PETS™ initiative as well as highlights of work the company is already doing in Nashville, visit http://bettercitiesforpets.tumblr.com/.

About Mars Petcare US
Mars Petcare is the world’s leading pet nutrition and health care business that strives to make A BETTER WORLD FOR PETS® every day. We believe that pets make our lives better and that pet ownership brings joy and benefits which should be accessible to everyone. In the United States, Mars Petcare food brands include PEDIGREE®, IAMS®, ROYAL CANIN®, GREENIES®, CESAR®, NUTRO® and SHEBA®. Veterinary practices include BANFIELD® and BLUE PEARL®. Specialty brands include WISDOM PANEL® Canine DNA Tests and WHISTLE GPS Pet Tracker. The company’s WALTHAM Centre for Pet Nutrition® is a leading scientific authority on pet nutrition and wellbeing. Mars Petcare has more than 37,000 Associates worldwide. For more information about how we’re creating A BETTER WORLD FOR PETS™, visit https://www.facebook.com/ABetterWorldforPets.

About Nashville Civic Design Center
The mission of the Nashville Civic Design Center is to elevate the quality of the Nashville’s built environment and to promote public participation in the creation of a more functional and beautiful city for all. NCDC fulfills its mission through promotion of The Plan of Nashville and Shaping the Healthy Community: The Nashville Plan; revitalizing and reclaiming public spaces; community visioning sessions; public education about civic design, citizenship and urban planning; and monthly programming and events. For more information on the Nashville Civic Design Center and its programs, please visit http://www.civicdesigncenter.org/.