For Every Bag of Dog or Cat Food Purchased, PetSmart Will Donate a Meal to Pets in Need*
PHOENIX, 2017-Mar-14 — /EPR Retail News/ — 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 non-profit 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 non-profits 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.
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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 non-profits 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.
SOURCE: PetSmart
Contacts:
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Danielle Bickelmann Golin for PetSmart 469-680-2503 dbickelmann@golin.com |
PetSmart Media Line |