May 16, 2018
Potential Pet Parents Can Keep Pet Adoption Momentum Going by Helping Local Pets in Need Find Loving Homes
PHOENIX – May 17, 2018 — With the help of nearly 4,000 animal welfare partners across North America, PetSmart and PetSmart Charities today announced they reached an unprecedented milestone of 8 million pet adoptions since 1994. Zeus, a playful black cat and the lucky 8 millionth pet, was adopted by Heath Greenlee, a deputy sheriff for the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office in Texas, through PetSmart Charities’ in-store adoption program. Greenlee adopted Zeus following the tragic loss of his family’s five-year-old cat, Felix. While Greenlee gave him a loving home, Zeus returned the favor by offering him the unconditional love and companionship he had been missing.
“I have always been a cat person, but when I spotted Zeus through the window, it felt like this little guy reached out and chose me, filling an emptiness in my heart that our family’s cat left when he passed away,” said Greenlee, who adopted Zeus from the City of Fort Worth Animal Care & Control-operated PetSmart Charities Everyday Adoption Center in Fort Worth, Texas. “Every pet deserves an opportunity for a good life and I’m so happy we could provide one for Zeus.”
Greenlee said Zeus’ affectionate hugs and playful demeanor have been a welcome addition to his family, which includes his wife, Sandra, and Scottish Corgi, Batman.
“Had I not opened my heart to adopting a pet, I would have passed up the opportunity to adopt a great cat,” said Greenlee. “He’s only been with us for a short time but we can’t imagine life without him.”
“We’ve found most pet parents can relate to leaning on their four-legged companion for healing after a period of stress, fear or sadness,” said David Haworth, DVM, PhD, president of PetSmart Charities. “Events like PetSmart Charities National Adoption Weekend provide an opportunity for pets and pet parents in need to connect, open their hearts and rescue one another.”
Prospective pet parents have an opportunity to adopt pets like Zeus by visiting a local PetSmart Charities National Adoption Weekend event this weekend.
Warmer spring temperatures mark the beginning of kitten season in the U.S.—a time when animal welfare organizations see a significant increase in their intake of unplanned and homeless litters of kittens. While the season can be challenging for shelters that must spay/neuter, vaccinate, foster and care for more kittens than usual, kittens are most often adopted within a week of an animal welfare organization bringing them into an adoption center at a PetSmart store.
PetSmart and PetSmart Charities hope to find homes for as many kittens, cats, dogs and other pets as possible by encouraging people to visit its National Adoption Weekend events held at nearly all 1,600 PetSmart stores across North America from May 18-20. With the help of thousands of animal welfare organizations, the leading pet retailer and its independent non-profit hope to find forever homes for more than 20,000 pets this weekend. Nearly half of the adoptable pets are expected to be kittens or cats.
“While our mission is to find forever homes for all pets, at this time of year, the need to find adoptive families for kittens and cats increases exponentially,” says Dr. Haworth. “With the help of our nearly 4,000 animal welfare partners across the U.S. and Canada, it is our goal to find homes for the cats, dogs and small animals that need it most. Although we’ve reached the milestone of our 8 millionth pet adoption, there are still so many pets in need of lifelong, loving homes and families just like Zeus.”
PetSmart Charities’ May National Adoption Weekend:
Date: May 18-20, 2018
Time: Friday and Saturday: 9 a.m.-9 p.m. (local time)
Sunday: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. (local time)
Location: Nearly all 1,600 PetSmart stores across North America
Visit www.petsmart.com or www.petsmart.ca to find the store nearest you
A Free Gift for Those Who Adopted:
When pet parents adopt a kitten, cat, dog or puppy, regardless of whether the pet was adopted from a PetSmart store or a local animal welfare organization, PetSmart offers a free Adoption Kit* that provides important content to help integrate a new pet into the family. Click here for more information about PetSmart’s Free Adoption Kit.
Adopting a Pet During National Adoption Weekend? Share it on Social!
Share your photos and stories with us! Upload them to www.petsmartcharities.org, or share them on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram tagging the handles below and include the hashtag #iadopted.
Follow PetSmart Charities on Instagram: @PetSmartCharities
Follow PetSmart Charities on Twitter: @PetSmartChariTs
Find PetSmart Charities on Facebook: www.Facebook.com/PetSmartCharities
*Adoption papers are required.
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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 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
PetSmart homepage: http://www.petsmart.com/
Turn your passion for pets into a career you’ll love! Visit careers.petsmart.com to learn more about corporate, retail store and Distribution Center opportunities.
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 Instagram: @PetSmartCharities
Follow PetSmart Charities on Twitter: @PetSmartChariTs
Find PetSmart Charities on Facebook: Facebook.com/PetSmartCharities
See PetSmart Charities on YouTube: YouTube.com/PetSmartCharitiesInc
