August 29, 2018
Leading Funder of Animal Welfare Plans to Harness the Power of Social Media to Help Find Homes for 25,000 Pets During National Adoption Weekend Sept. 14-16
Aug. 29, 2018 – PHOENIX, ARIZ.— PetSmart Charities has always partnered with pet rescues and shelters across North America to bring adoptable pets into PetSmart® stores to help them find a forever home. Now, in preparation for its upcoming September National Adoption Weekend, the leading funder of animal welfare isn’t just reaching out to potential pet adopters. Instead PetSmart Charities is harnessing the power of hundreds of millions of pet-loving social media users with its new #PicMe campaign.
#PicMe is a campaign designed to use social media for good by helping to find loving homes for 25,000 pets in just a few days. The hashtag anchoring the campaign has a clever double meaning: It combines the call to action of snapping a photo or “pic” of an adoptable pet to share on social media with an appeal in the voice of those featured pets for potential adopters to “pick me!” when they visit a local PetSmart store during National Adoption Weekend in search of a new four-legged friend. Whether you are expanding your family with a furry friend or just want to help a pet find a home, #PicMe allows all animal lovers to pay it forward.
North America boasts one of the largest social media footprints in the world. It’s estimated that 81 percent of the population has at least one social media profile, meaning there were 207 million social media users on the continent in 2016. A recent survey by Mars Petcare U.S. revealed social media users tend post about their pets an average of twice a week, demonstrating that people love to like, share and post pet-related content.
“We know people are passionate about helping to end pet homelessness. But historically, unless you were ready to adopt a pet into your home, there was no other way for millions of pet-lovers to take part in National Adoption Weekend,” says David Haworth, DVM, Ph.D. and president of PetSmart Charities in the U.S. and Canada. “Now, by sharing a photo, video or Boomerang of an adorable, adoptable pet on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, and using the hashtag #PicMe, everyone has the ability to help by inspiring their community of followers to consider adopting a pet.”
Learn how to take part in this social media for good campaign
Watch the video to learn how swapping out your Sunday brunch selfie in favor of an adoptable pet portrait could help more than 25,000 pets to be adopted in a single weekend.
Follow PetSmart Charities’ 3-Day Adopt-a-Thon on Twitter and Instagram PetSmart Charities will also host a three-day adopt-a-thon kicking off at 4 p.m. EST on Fri., Sept. 14. Beginning Saturday and Sunday between the hours of 9 a.m. through 3 p.m. EST, PetSmart Charities will be showcasing one adoptable pet every hour. Follow the cuteness at www.twitter.com/PetSmartChariTs or www.instagram.com/PetSmartCharities.
Ready to Bring Love Home this National Adoption Weekend?
The primary goal of PetSmart Charities’ National Adoption Weekend and the #PicMe campaign remains to reduce pet homelessness by finding lifelong, loving homes for as many shelter pets as possible. From Sept. 14 – 16, more than 3,500 animal welfare organizations will bring adoptable pets into nearly all of PetSmart’s 1,600-plus stores in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. Visit your local PetSmart store to meet adoptable dogs, cats, puppies, kittens, rabbits, guinea pigs and the occasional reptile, all looking for their forever homes and families.
National Adoption Weekend Details:
Date: Fri., Sept. 14 – Sun., Sept. 16, 2018
Time: Fri. and Sat.: 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. Sunday: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. local time
Location: Your local PetSmart store. Visit www.petsmart.com to find a store near you.
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About PetSmart Charities®
PetSmart Charities, Inc. is committed to finding lifelong, loving homes for all pets by supporting programs and thought leadership that bring people and pets together. Through its in-store adoption program in all PetSmart® stores across the U.S. and Puerto Rico, PetSmart Charities helps to find forever homes and families for more than 500,000 shelter pets each year. PetSmart Charities also provides grant funding to nonprofits aligned with its mission under four key areas of support: Preventing Pet Homelessness; Helping Shelter Pets Thrive; Supporting the Bond Between People and Pets and Providing Emergency Relief and Disaster Support. Each year, millions of generous PetSmart shoppers help pets in need by donating to PetSmart Charities using the PIN pads at checkout registers inside PetSmart stores. In turn, PetSmart Charities efficiently uses more than 90 cents of every dollar donated to fulfill its role as the leading funder of animal welfare in North America, granting almost $340 million since its inception in 1994. Independent from PetSmart LLC, PetSmart Charities is a 501(c)(3) organization that has received the Four-Star Rating from Charity Navigator, a third-party organization that reports on the effectiveness, accountability and transparency of nonprofits, for the past 15 years in a row – placing it among the top one percent of charities rated by this organization. To learn more visit www.petsmartcharities.org.
Follow PetSmart Charities on Twitter: @PetSmartChariTs
Find PetSmart Charities on Facebook: Facebook.com/PetSmartCharities
See PetSmart Charities on YouTube: YouTube.com/PetSmartCharitiesInc
About PetSmart®
PetSmart LLC is the largest specialty pet retailer of services and solutions for the lifetime needs of pets. At PetSmart, we love pets, and we believe pets make us better people. Every day with every connection, PetSmart’s passionate associates help bring pet parents closer to their pets so they, together, can live more fulfilled lives. This vision impacts everything we do for our customers, the way we support our associates and how we give back to our communities. PetSmart employs approximately 55,000 associates and operates more than 1,600 pet stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, as well as more than 200 in-store PetSmart PetsHotel® dog and cat boarding facilities. The retailer provides a broad range of competitively priced pet food and products, as well as services such as dog training, pet grooming, pet boarding, PetSmart Doggie Day Camp™ and pet adoption. PetSmart, PetSmart Charities® and PetSmart Charities® of Canada work with more than 3,500 animal welfare organizations to bring adoptable pets into stores so they have the best chance possible of finding a forever home. Through this in-store adoption program and other signature events, PetSmart has facilitated more than 8 million adoptions, more than any other brick-and-mortar organization. In May 2017, PetSmart acquired Chewy.com, a leading online retailer of pet food and products in the U.S., which operates as an independent subsidiary.
Find PetSmart on Facebook: www.facebook.com/PetSmart
See PetSmart on Instagram: @PetSmart
Follow PetSmart on Twitter: @PetSmart
See PetSmart on YouTube: www.YouTube.com/PetSmart
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