PetSmart® and PetSmart Charities® Announce Record-Breaking 25,522 Pets Adopted out of Stores at Their Signature National Adoption Weekend
September National Event Aimed at Saving Lives is the Most Successful
in PetSmart’s History
PHOENIX–(BUSINESS WIRE)–A total of 25,522 pets found their forever homes last week during the
PetSmart Charities National Adoption Weekend event held at more than
1,470 PetSmart stores across North America – setting a new event record
with the most pets adopted at these national events since they were
initiated by the retailer and PetSmart Charities more than two decades
ago.
This news is on the heels of the organizations’ seven millionth pet
adoption milestone, which they started celebrating last week. The lucky
seven millionth adopted pet is Daisy, a Fox Terrier-Foxhound mix puppy,
who was adopted out of a PetSmart store in Staten Island by the McKenzie
family. Daisy serves as the seven millionth pet adopted at a PetSmart
store since the in-store adoption program began in the late ‘90s.
Pet adoptions take place at PetSmart Charities National Adoption
Weekends, as well as every day at PetSmart – where for every 30 seconds
a PetSmart store is open a pet’s life is saved, totaling about 1,400
pets’ lives saved every day.
Approximately 25,522 pets were adopted through the event last week
(Monday – Sunday), beating the event record by nearly 500 pets and
representing a 23 percent increase over last year’s September adoption
event.
These signature National Adoption Weekend events at PetSmart are
conducted in collaboration with PetSmart Charities®, PetSmart
CharitiesTM of Canada and adoption partners – more than 3,000
local animal welfare organizations that bring the adoptable pets into
stores, where people save pets and pets save people. While called
PetSmart Charities National Adoption “Weekend,” the adoption efforts
span the week, with the majority of the pets – nearly 23,000 – adopted
between Friday and Sunday, when many stores host large parking lot tent
events with their local adoption partners to connect adoptable pets with
their forever families.
“We are thrilled to celebrate our seven millionth pet adoption and this
record-breaking National Adoption Weekend, where more than 25,500 pets
found their forever homes this past week in our stores,” said Eran
Cohen, chief customer experience officer, PetSmart. “Our National
Adoption Weekend events are highly coordinated efforts involving nearly
all aspects of our company, PetSmart Charities and PetSmart Charities of
Canada and thousands of local animal welfare partners. From setting up
tents and preparing stores to serve as adoption centers to coordinating
with our local partners, we couldn’t be more proud of the collaborative
efforts that resulted in our recent adoption successes – together we
have saved more than seven million lives in total and more than 25,500
in just one week.”
As a gift to those that adopt and save a life, PetSmart gives its free
Adoption Kit, which provides advice on how to integrate a pet into the
family and true value – with more than $400 in real savings – to the
adoption parent. Included are coupons for a free bag of dog or cat food
from Simply Nourish™, Authority® or Good Natured™, as well as a free
veterinarian visit, a free training session with an accredited trainer,
a free Doggie Day Camp session and a free overnight boarding stay, as
well as half-off on two grooming services. Also included are savings on
all the essentials for a new pet including beds, crates, gates, brushes,
feeding bowls, collars, leashes, toys and treats, as well as solutions
like pet calming products and stain and odor remedies for the mishaps
that are sure to occur.
The PetSmart Adoption Kit is industry-leading and available to anybody
who adopts, no matter where they adopt* – at PetSmart, a shelter,
community event, or even another retailer. On average PetSmart is
handing out about 10,000 free Adoption Kits every week.
*Adoption papers required.
Top 10 Most Adoption-Friendly Cities
PetSmart and PetSmart Charities congratulate Fort Worth, which adopted
out the most pets in the U.S. during the week-long event. The Fort Worth
area’s local adoption partners helped find lifelong, loving homes for
269 cats and dogs.
Based on PetSmart Charities’ September National Adoption Weekend data,
the top 10 cities with the most pet adoptions are:
- Fort Worth, Texas (269 adoptions)
- Chattanooga, Tennessee (265 adoptions)
- Columbia, Maryland (246 adoptions)
- Albuquerque, New Mexico (243 adoptions)
- Houston, Texas (243 adoptions)
- Cincinnati, Ohio (188 adoptions)
- San Antonio, Texas (182 adoptions)
- Dallas, Texas (174 adoptions)
- Terre Haute, Indiana (158 adoptions)
- Tucson, Arizona (145 adoptions)
The next PetSmart Charities National Adoption Weekend will be held
November 11-13 with adoptable pets also available every day at stores.
If you’re looking to add a pet to your home, consider saving a life by
adopting. Visit or call your local store for more information on
adoptable pets or visit www.petsmartcharities.org for
more information.
Pet parents everywhere are invited to share their own pet’s adoption
story on Instagram or Twitter using #iadopted for a chance to be
featured on a special adoption story wall at www.petsmart.com
and www.petsmartcharities.org.
So far, more than 1,500 posted on the #iadopted story wall. Go to petsmart.com/iadopted
and petsmartcharities.org/iadopted
to see the stories.
About PetSmart®
PetSmart, Inc. 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 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. We employ approximately 53,000
associates, operate 1,477 pet stores in the United States, Canada and
Puerto Rico and 203 in-store PetSmart® PetsHotel® dog and cat boarding
facilities. PetSmart provides a broad range of competitively priced pet
food and pet products and offers dog training, pet grooming, pet
boarding, PetSmart Doggie Day Camp day care services and pet adoption
services in-store. Our portfolio of digital resources for pet parents –
including PetSmart.com,
PetFoodDirect.com,
Pet360.com
and petMD.com
– offers the most comprehensive online pet supplies and pet care
information in the U.S. Through our in-store pet adoption partnership
with independent nonprofit organizations, PetSmart Charities® and
PetSmart Charities™ of Canada, PetSmart helps to save the lives of more
than 500,000 homeless pets each year.
Follow PetSmart on Twitter: @PetSmart
Find
PetSmart on Facebook: www.facebook.com/PetSmart
See
PetSmart on YouTube: www.YouTube.com/PetSmart
About PetSmart Charities®
PetSmart Charities, Inc. is a nonprofit animal welfare organization that
saves the lives of homeless pets. Each year nearly 500,000 dogs and cats
find homes through our adoption program in all PetSmart® stores across
the U.S. and sponsored adoption events. Each year millions of PetSmart
shoppers contribute to pets in need by making donations directly to
PetSmart Charities on a pin pad at the registers in PetSmart stores.
PetSmart Charities administers and efficiently uses 90 cents of every
dollar of the generous donations by issuing grants and providing
additional support to help pets in need. PetSmart Charities grants more
money to directly help pets in need than any other animal welfare group
in North America, with a focus on funding adoption and spay/neuter
programs that help communities solve pet overpopulation. PetSmart
Charities is a 501(c)(3) organization, independent from PetSmart, Inc.
PetSmart Charities has received the Four Star Rating for the past 13
years from Charity Navigator, an independent nonprofit that reports on
the effectiveness, accountability and transparency of nonprofits,
placing it among the top one percent of charities rated by this
organization.
About PetSmart Charities™ of Canada
PetSmart Charities of Canada is a nonprofit animal welfare organization
that saves the lives of homeless pets in Canada. Each year more than
20,000 cats and dogs find Canadian homes through our adoption program in
nearly all PetSmart stores across Canada and our sponsored adoption
events. A leading funder of animal welfare, PetSmart Charities of Canada
has granted more than $9 million to help pets in need with a funding
focus on adoption and spay/neuter programs that help communities solve
pet overpopulation. PetSmart Charities of Canada is a registered
charity, independent from PetSmart.
Contacts
Golin for PetSmart Inc.:
Danielle Bickelmann, 469-680-2503
dbickelmann@golin.com
or
PetSmart
Media Line:
623-587-2177
