Well, it had to happen sometime and unfortunately that time has arrived. This will be the last issue of the paper version of Critter Chatter. It isn’t a decision we came to lightly; but it is one that had to be made.

When we first began publishing Critter Chatter in 1996, there was no other source of local information about pet related topics. We provided a lot of useful information that could not be found anywhere else, and we tried to do it in an upbeat way that was entertaining as well as informative. We tried to focus on the positive and emphasize the fun of having a pet and all the things you could do with it.

A lot has changed since then. Cable television has expanded and now offers pet-related programming around the clock. The internet has exploded with content of all kinds and has become, for many, their main source of information. And just about every local monthly, weekly and daily publication now includes pet-related articles.

The main reason that we are ending the printed version of Critter Chatter is, of course, money. In the beginning we provided a great way for pet-related businesses to get their message to the very people who would be interested, and we attracted a lot of advertising. This is a business, and Critter Chatter did well for awhile, but we were never able to get any national advertisers; the chain stores and pet food companies we thought would be a natural. They only advertise in larger circulation publications. That left us only local business for support, and then that began to dry up. Since the beginning of this year we have seen a lot of advertisers drop their ads, faster than we could replace them. We cut the number of pages to try to keep it profitable, but still kept losing advertisers. Apparently the handwriting on the wall was trying to tell us something.

I am a fan of the free-market system. The marketplace has a very efficient way of deciding who stays and who goes, and right now the marketplace seems to be saying that it is time for us to go.

We have met some great people over the years, and many of them have supported us for years. I have to mention some of them and thank them for their loyalty. Deceased Pet Care and Mary Clare Bromley have both been with us since day one. In fact, they were the first two businesses I contacted in early 1996 when it was time to sell advertising for a publication that didn’t exist yet. Both of them wanted to advertise in Critter Chatter. I remember hanging up after the second call and thinking “Boy, this is going to be so easy.” Reality stopped by for a visit soon after. But we got it off the ground and it grew.

Not long after we began publishing Atlanta Water Gardens and Pawsitively Pets began advertising, and they have both been with us in every issue since they joined us. I want to thank them all for their support over the years.

This doesn’t mean that Critter Chatter is gone altogether. We are just redirecting our efforts to the online version, CritterChatter.com, and we will be making a lot of changes and adding new features that we had planned to do all along, but just didn’t have time while putting out a publication. The internet offers so many options and so few restrictions that we can’t wait to get going on it. There are no page counts and space restrictions, costs are lower, and distribution isn’t even a factor. I hope you will follow us online and see how we do.

We want to thank all of the advertisers who were with us at the end by carrying their ads online at no charge. Please continue to support them. We had a catchphrase that we never got around to using, but we like it. “If they don’t support Critter Chatter, why would you want to do business with them?”

As a great philosopher named Yogi Berra once said, “It ain’t over til it’s over.” Unfortunately, in the case of Critter Chatter, it’s over.

Thanks again to all of you for your support over the years.

Dave