Hagen Chairman honoured with prestigious Jiro Matsui Award

The World Pet Association (WPA), America’s oldest non-profit organisation within the pet industry has awarded Hagen’s late Chairman Rolf C. Hagen with the Matsui award at SuperZoo 2013.

Deemed the organisation’s highest honour, the Matsui Award is named after former WPA board president Jiro Matsui, and is presented to honour lifetime contributions to the pet industry. The award is not given every year, only when the WPA’s past Presidents/Chairs and Board of Directors feel that there is someone worthy of the honour.

The WPA described Mr Hagen as “one of those select few who gave so much back to the industry he loved.” The award was presented at the Industry Event at the House of Blues in Las Vegas, where there was also a video tribute to Mr Hagen.

Hagen’s late Chairman is currently the only person in the industry to be honoured with three major Lifetime Achievement Awards:

1.American Pet Products Association Hall of Fame Award (1999) (This award was also renamed the Rolf C. Hagen Award in 2012)
2.Pet Industry Distributors Association Lifetime Achievement Award (2004)
3.World Pet Associations – Jiro Matsui Award (2013)
 

The Matsui Award has been presented 31 times since its inception in 1969, with 2012’s winner being Paul Jolly, vice president for Petco Animal Supplies, executive director for the Petco Foundation and co-founder of PAWS LA.