PetSmart CharitiesTM National Adoption Weekend, Sept. 11-13, Held in PetSmart Stores Expected to Save 15,000 Lives in Just One Weekend
PHOENIX, 2015-9-3 — /EPR Retail News/ — For the first time, PetSmart will throw a “Happy Gotcha Day” celebration to help find homes for about 15,000 homeless pets during the next PetSmart Charities National Adoption Weekend, Sept. 11-13, when more than 1,400 PetSmart stores will host the event in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. The thousands of pets with unknown birthdays that are expected to be adopted will now have a day to call their own.
“For adopted pets, confirming a birthday is tough, so we wanted to call out to these new pet parents that special day – ‘Gotcha Day’ – to celebrate the moment they brought home their newest family member,” said Eran Cohen, executive vice president of customer experience, PetSmart, Inc.
How to Adopt & Celebrate Gotcha Day
Where: PetSmart Charities Adoption Centers or designated adoption areas in all PetSmart stores
When: Fri., Sept. 11 and Sat., Sept. 12, 9 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Sun., Sept. 13, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Contact: Find the PetSmart store nearest you at http://pets.petsmart.com/adoptions/ or call 1-877-473-8762.
Share: Use #gotchaday to share the news!
Pet parents are invited to post photos of their newly adopted pets using #gotchaday and tag @PetSmart on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to share their news and to support this lifesaving event.
People adopting pets – at PetSmart or elsewhere — can also receive PetSmart’s free Adoption Starter Kit, offered every day at stores and featuring tips for caring for a new cat or dog, and a range of coupons valued at $400 in savings. The coupons cover everything a new pet parent needs including beds, bowls, collars, leashes, free one-time services such as veterinarian, grooming, boarding, training and Doggie Day Camp, as well as a free bag of dog or cat food under the brands Simply Nourish™, Authority® and Good Natured™ — all of which are proud sponsors of PetSmart Charities™ Adoptions and National Adoption Weekends. These food brands also give back by donating more than 200 tons of food every year to help pets in need.
PetSmart partners with thousands of local shelters and animal welfare organizations and supporting the pet food and supply needs of these partners is a top priority. Sept. 7-13 all PetSmart stores are also running a food drive whereby customers can purchase food (or other pet supplies) in local stores and drop the items into a bin to be donated to these local partners.
Partnering to Save Lives
“When you adopt a pet, you save two lives – that of the pet you bring home and another who takes his or her place at the adoption event,” said Julie White, senior director of programs, PetSmart Charities, the nonprofit leader in pet adoptions and the largest funder of animal welfare in North America.
Pet adoption is fun, enriching and most importantly, lifesaving. Each year about 7 million pets enter shelters across North America and some 3 million healthy, adoptable pets are euthanized. To help, PetSmart teams up with PetSmart Charities to run National Adoption Weekends four times a year. On average, some 15,000 pets find families during these weekend events.
PetSmart Charities adoption events and adoption centers in PetSmart stores have proven to be one of the most effective ways to save pets’ lives. In fact, 6 million pets have found homes through the program since 1994 and now PetSmart and PetSmart Charities help save more than 1,000 pets a day with one pet adopted every minute a PetSmart store is open.
Join the Conversation
You can follow PetSmart Charities and PetSmart on Facebook throughout National Adoption Weekend at www.facebook.com/PetSmartCharities and www.facebook.com/PetSmart. Or, talk with us on Twitter at @PetSmartChariTs and @PetSmart and on Instagram by following the hashtags #adoptlove and #gotchaday.
About PetSmart®
PetSmart, Inc. is the largest specialty pet retailer of services and solutions for the lifetime needs of pets. At PetSmart, we believe pets make us better people. That’s why we create more moments for people to be inspired by pets. This mission impacts everything we do for our customers, the way we support our associates, and how we give back to our communities. PetSmart employs about 53,000 associates, operates approximately 1,404 pet stores in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico and approximately 202 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. The PetSmart portfolio of digital resources for pet parents – including PetSmart.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 400,000 homeless pets each year. PetSmart is the largest supporter of PetSmart Charities and also supports organizations that make communities a better place to call home through its philanthropy program, PetSmart Gives Back™. By giving back to the communities where we live and work, PetSmart not only celebrates the power of pets to enrich people’s lives — we live it.
About PetSmart Charities™
PetSmart Charities, Inc. is a nonprofit animal welfare organization that saves the lives of homeless pets. More than 400,000 dogs and cats find homes each year through our adoption program in all PetSmart® stores and our sponsored adoption events. 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 spay/neuter services that help communities solve pet overpopulation. PetSmart Charities is a 501(c)(3) organization, independent from PetSmart, Inc.
Contacts:
Golin for PetSmart Inc.:
Danielle Bickelmann
dbickelmann@golin.com
972-341-2503
Golin for PetSmart Charities:
Jennifer Kepler
jkepler@golin.com
972-341-2552
PetSmart Media Line:
623-587-2177