Purina has announced the long awaited winner of the BetterwithPets Prize, which has been awarded to OOPOEH Foundation.
The other four finalists, Canine Hope (UK), Dutch Cell Dogs (Netherlands), Medical Detection Dogs (UK) and K9 Hundekunde: Happy Kids With Happy School Dogs (Germany) – have each been awarded CHF 15,000.
The OOPOEH Foundation hopes to reduce loneliness and increase physical activity for the elderly by matching them as a dog sitter to their family in their neighbourhood.
Sofie Brouwer, Founder of the Foundation, said: “We are honored and excited t be awarded this prize, this will allow us to increase our initiative’s social impact. We had a fantastic workshop with Purina and now look to continue our project to target vulnerable senior with the advice and inspiration taken from the BetterwithPets Forum.”
The Purina BetterwithPets Forum was created to bring together social innovators, entrepreneurs and stakeholders from across Europe to learn more about social innovation, to network and participate in workshops.
Bernard Neunier, CEO of Nestle Purina PetCare EMENA, said: “It was truly moving to hear from the finalists and learn more about their inspiring programmes and how they have managed to create such a positive impact in their communities.”
