PetSmart® Expresses Its Love of Pets with Bold Move to Help Pets in Need, Estimates Donating More Than 60 Million Pet Food Meals in 2017 Through Its New Buy a Bag, Give a Meal™ Program
For Every Bag of Dog or Cat Food Purchased, PetSmart Will Donate a
Meal to Pets in Need*
PHOENIX–(BUSINESS WIRE)–In celebration of its 30th anniversary, PetSmart announced
today the launch of its new Buy a Bag, Give a Meal program, where
for every bag of dog or cat food purchased online and at all its stores
across the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico, the leading pet specialty
retailer will donate a meal to a pet in need served by pet shelters,
animal welfare organizations and food banks. PetSmart said it expects to
contribute more than 60 million meals** under this philanthropic program
– its biggest philanthropic campaign in its 30-year history. The program
will run March 1 – December 31, 2017.
PetSmart carries a wide range of dog and cat food brands and its Buy
a Bag, Give a Meal program includes all brands and sizes of dog and
cat food bags purchased at the 1,500-plus PetSmart stores, as well as
online at PetSmart.com and PetSmart.ca. Nonprofit partner PetSmart
Charities® plans to collaborate with national nonprofits to help
effectively distribute the pet food directly to pets in need.
“At PetSmart we love pets and we believe they make us better people. To
celebrate our 30 years of continued commitment to helping pets in need
every day and as a trusted partner to pet parents everywhere, we want to
celebrate by giving back even more,” said Eran Cohen, chief customer
experience officer, PetSmart. “Throughout 2017, every time pet parents
purchase any bag of dog or cat food in our stores or online, they can
rest assured they are also helping feed pets in need. When their pets
eat, pets in need eat, too. It’s that simple.”
According to David Haworth, DVM, Ph.D., president of PetSmart Charities,
up to 7 million pets enter shelters every year across North America.
While these pets await adoption and their forever homes, they need
access to pet food, making pet food a significant operating expense for
animal welfare organizations. According to a recent PetSmart Charities
survey involving nearly 1,800 of its animal welfare partners across
North America, only 20 percent of these organizations receive pet food
donations and about 8 percent are on contract with pet food brands to
receive subsidized pet food.
As well, Haworth noted not all pets in need live at shelters and many
are with their families, who are served by food banks and pantries.
According to some national food banks, it is estimated that one in seven
Americans rely on these facilities. Pet food is a rare offering in human
food bank programs and is not an eligible item for purchase through most
food assistance programs. As a result some families in need often
sacrifice their own food, feeding their beloved pets human food to
ensure they have something to eat.
“We are proud to team up with PetSmart on this important philanthropic
initiative in celebration of its 30 years in business,” said
Haworth. “These food donations are key to helping animal welfare
organizations free up precious resources so they can continue their
life-saving work, as well as deliver pet food as an option at food banks
and pantries. We look forward to seeing the impact this significant pet
food donation will make to close the gap on this critical and essential
need in animal welfare.”
For 30 years, PetSmart, with its nonprofit partner, PetSmart Charities,
has been a leader in adoption, saving more than 7.3 million pets’ lives
– more adoptions than any other brick-and-mortar organization. PetSmart
Charities is the leading funder of animal welfare across North America,
donating more funding support – about $300 million to date – to help
pets in need.
Visit PetSmart.com or PetSmart.ca to find the store nearest you or to
shop online. For more information on PetSmart’s Buy a Bag, Give a Meal
program, see PetSmart.com/giveameal and PetSmart.ca/giveameal.
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, 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. We employ
approximately 55,000 associates, operate more than 1,500 pet stores in
the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, as well as 204 in-store
PetSmart® PetsHotel® dog and cat boarding facilities. PetSmart provides
a broad range of competitively priced pet food and products, as well as
pet-focused services such as dog training, pet grooming, pet boarding,
PetSmart® Doggie Day Camp® and pet adoption. PetSmart, together with
nonprofits PetSmart Charities® and PetSmart Charities™ of Canada, invite
more than 3,000 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 7.3 million adoptions – more than any
other brick-and-mortar organization. The company’s portfolio of digital
resources for pet parents includes PetSmart.com, PetFoodDirect.com,
Pet360.com, petMD.com, Pawculture.com, AllPaws, an online pet adoption
platform that helps potential pet parents find the perfect pet to adopt
based on their home, family and lifestyle, as well as BlogPaws, the
world’s first pet blogger and influencer network. Through these digital
platforms, PetSmart offers the most comprehensive online pet supplies
and pet care information in the U.S. In celebration of its 30th
anniversary, PetSmart launched its Buy a Bag, Give a Meal™
program in March 2017. For every bag of cat or dog food purchased March
1 – Dec. 31, 2017, PetSmart will donate a meal to pets in need and
expects to donate more than 60 million meals in 2017.
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 with a
mission to find lifelong, loving homes for all pets by supporting
programs and thought leadership that bring people and pets together. In
addition to finding homes for almost 500,000 shelter pets each year
through its in-store adoption program in all PetSmart stores across the
U.S. and Puerto Rico, PetSmart Charities provides funding to nonprofits
aligned with its mission through four key areas of grant support:
Preventing Pet Homelessness; Helping Shelter Pets Thrive; Supporting the
Bond Between People and Pets; and 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 90 cents of every dollar donated and has become the
leading funder of animal welfare in North America, donating about $300
million to date. PetSmart Charities, a 501(c)(3) organization, has
received the Four Star Rating from Charity Navigator, an independent
organization that reports on the effectiveness, accountability and
transparency of nonprofits, for the past 14 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 Charities™ of Canada
PetSmart
Charities of Canada is a registered Canadian charity with a mission
to find lifelong, loving homes for all pets by supporting programs and
thought leadership that bring people and pets together. In addition to
finding homes for more than 25,000 shelter pets each year through its
in-store adoption program in all PetSmart stores, PetSmart Charities of
Canada provides funding to registered charities aligned with its mission
through four key areas of grant support: Preventing Pet Homelessness;
Helping Shelter Pets Thrive; Supporting the Bond Between People and
Pets; and Emergency Relief and Disaster Support. Each year, millions of
generous PetSmart shoppers help pets in need by donating to PetSmart
Charities of Canada using the pin pads at checkout registers inside
PetSmart stores. In turn, PetSmart Charities efficiently uses 89 cents
of every dollar donated and has become a leading funder of animal
welfare in Canada, donating nearly $12 million to date. PetSmart
Charities of Canada is a member of Imagine Canada, and a registered
Canadian charity independent from PetSmart, Inc. To learn more, visit www.petsmartcharities.ca.
* For every bag of dog or cat dry food purchased at a PetSmart store,
PetSmart.com or PetSmart.ca between 3/1/17 – 12/31/17, PetSmart will
donate a meal (5 oz dog food; 1.5 oz cat food) to PetSmart Charities to
help feed a pet in need. Visit www.PetSmart.com/giveameal
for more information.
** Actual donation based on dog and cat food bag sales. Meal donation
goal based on historic sales for similar time period. No guaranteed
amount.
Contacts
Golin for PetSmart
Danielle Bickelmann, 469-680-2503
dbickelmann@golin.com
or
PetSmart
Media Line
623-587-2177
