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Local entrepreneur makes pet health a personal mission
by Deborah Ostrovsky
 TUCKED AWAY ON A QUIET SIDE STREET IN MONTREAL'S Plateau district is a small store that is changing the way local residents think about holistic animal health.
But for Jenny Sousa, owner of Brandy's Holistic Centre & Canine Café, the store is anything but quiet today.
In the past hour, there has been a flurry of human and canine activity in the cozy shop located just east of St-Denis.
Customers have brought their dogs inside, letting them scamper and play with Sousa's Jack Russell Terrier pup, Bu.
Some order coffee, sitting down at a wooden table to chat with the energetic 30-year-old Sousa, who has transformed this petite red brick storefront into a thriving community-centred business.
"I want people to feel welcome here, and to feel comfortable sharing their ideas about animal health," said Sousa, who worked in finance before opening Brandy's in December 2006.
Brandy's sells pet food following the holistic approach, which emphasizes the importance of good nutrition for animal well-being.
The store's shelves are lined with kibble, canned food, and treats that have natural ingredients, produced in facilities following the standards set for human consumption. The pet food is made with real meat, not meat by-products found in many commercial brands. Some are 100% certified organic.
Sousa is one of a growing number of small retailers who are carrying holistic pet food. But in a city the size of Montreal, stores like Brandy's are still something of a novelty.
According to a 2001 Ispsos-Reid Canadian Study on Pet Ownership, "Paws & Claws", Quebec has the highest number of "Pet Traditionalists." Their main criteria for choosing pet products is convenience and price, not quality.
"The vet told me that my cat's cancer was partially a result of the food my cat was eating."
Unlike other parts of the country, a significantly lower percentage of province-wide pet owners are committed to spending money on their pets. Ispsos-Reid's extensive study showed that grocery and mass merchandise stores are the main ways Quebec traditionalists purchase their pet care products.
But as Quebec consumers are becoming more health conscious about their own food choices, turning to cuisine de terroir, including organically grown and local produce, they're making healthier choices for their animals, too.
Before graduating in Commerce from Concordia University in 2005, Sousa thought about combining her business savvy with her passion for animals. She considered becoming a veterinarian. Then she realized that her interests were in preventive health rather than being a clinician.
But when her cat was diagnosed with cancer, Sousa started to take her plans more seriously.
"The vet told me that my cat's cancer was partially a result of the food my cat was eating," she said.
Shocked by this explanation, Sousa started to research on the quality of commercial brands on the market and looked into more natural alternatives.
She was startled by her findings. Much of the published research she found questioned the dietary integrity of many commercial foods, citing soaring rates of diabetes and obesity among domestic animals, which has been linked to bad diet.
Usually these illnesses are thought of as human diseases, prevalent in industrialized nations. But the incidence in the domestic animal population has increased, causing a reduction in life expectancy and quality of life.
Some commercial pet foods, Sousa explains, use corn, soy, and wheat gluten as fillers. Others use meat by-products, such as bones, feathers, and beaks, which have less nutritional value. Other manufacturers have a history of unnecessary animal testing, which wouldn't be needed, Sousa suggests, if ingredients were safe and natural.
The timing for Brandy's success has converged with recent fears over pet food recalls.
Sousa noticed a wave of change among her clientele last spring, when over 60 million packages of pet food were recalled because melamine, a cheap additive used in animal food, killed at least 16 dogs and cats in the US.
"People definitely got scared," Sousa said. "But timing is everything. There have been recalls in the past, but now consumers are quicker to look for information and find alternatives."
Clients can also find information at Brandy's, which has a small library of information on nutrition that clients are welcome to browse.
On the Plateau, a densely populated area in Montreal with a shortage of public space for dogs, part of Brandy's appeal is that clients are welcome to bring their dogs inside and stay for awhile. Sousa has even hosted an event for Meet
Market Adventures, a singles social club who meet at the store for tea and coffee with their dogs.
Combining the social aspect with holistic pet foods has won her loyal clientele.
"I've even had people come from out of town to buy pet food because we carry quality brands," Sousa said. "They also know that now, they can come to Montreal for a day of shopping and bring their dog with them, because they can stop here for a coffee, relax, and their dogs are welcome here."
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