PHOENIX, 2016-Sep-14 — /EPR Retail News/ — When Daisy trotted out the doors of a Staten Island PetSmart store on a Saturday in August, she became more than the milestone-setting seven millionth pet adopted through PetSmart® and PetSmart Charities® since the in-store adoption program began in 1994. She became another powerful story of people saving pets and pets saving people.
To date, PetSmart, “The Adopt Spot,” has been a part of more of these heartwarming stories than any other organization. PetSmart achieves this milestone together with nonprofits PetSmart Charities and PetSmart Charities™ of Canada, who facilitate in-store adoptions by creating lasting relationships with the more than 3,000 animal welfare partners that bring adoptable pets to the stores. As a strategic grant making organization, PetSmart Charities has also donated more than $285 million directly to help pets – more than any other animal welfare funder in North America.
Every 30 seconds a PetSmart store is open, a pet’s life is saved, totaling about 1,400 lives saved every day. PetSmart, “The Adopt Spot,” has become the leading resource for pet adoptions in North America.
“Daisy’s adoption is an enormous milestone. Not just because she is the seven millionth adoption PetSmart has facilitated, but because she has had such an impact on her new family already, bringing joy and love to the McKenzie family,” said Eran Cohen, chief customer experience officer, PetSmart.
“Daisy was transported from the South to New York to have a better shot at being adopted. Already she is transitioning seamlessly into the high-energy McKenzie family as a second canine family member joining adopted dog Sabrina, pet parents Angela and Brad, and their two busy boys under five Jack and Henry,” said Cohen. “We believe every pet is tremendously special. And while we’ve always celebrated how people save these animals’ lives – like Angela and Brad did – this is the perfect time to also reflect on the amazing ways pets save people.”
Over the next few months, Daisy’s adoption story is just one of seven PetSmart will share to show how pets save people:
- Blake Senses Owner’s Seizures – With a personality as big as Texas, this little black kitten spent months in foster care after his original owner got sick and couldn’t care for him. Days after being adopted, Blake woke his new pet parent Glen by biting his toes, alerting him to an oncoming seizure. Glen suffers from three separate brain diseases with frequent seizures that can be deadly if they strike during sleep. With Blake’s sixth sense he instinctively knows the onset of a seizure and encourages Glen to take action such as sitting down (or waking up), acting as a life-saving companion and forming an incredible bond.
- Polly Helps Vet Cope with PTSD – As an adult dog, Polly’s chances at adoptions were not good. However, Vietnam veteran Ed fell in love with her. Today, Polly has graduated from service dog training and is a constant companion to Ed, who suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Polly spent months in a shelter. Ed said, “I found Polly when I did because she has a higher calling in life.”
- Chica and Bruce’s New Normal – After losing his beloved wife to cancer and just months later, his dog Taco to a heart condition, Bruce thought he’d never adopt again. But he fell in love with and adopted Chica, a little Chihuahua. After a year together, Bruce often remarks, “I don’t know who rescued whom?” Chica loves rides in Bruce’s Corvette classic and has provided the canine companionship he needed to embrace life once again.
- Zephyr to Save Lots of Lives – Adam adopted Zephyr, a German Shepherd mix, from a Miami PetSmart store and then moved to Michigan so Adam could finish his graduate school. With a love of the outdoors and having emergency medical experience himself, Adam decided to put Zephyr into the Michigan Search and Rescue. The dog is moving through the program with flying colors and is expected to reach field-deployable status as an Air Scent Search and Rescue K9 by next spring.
- Pete Helps Grandma and Grandson with Loss – In May, Dottie lost her husband of nearly 43 years and two months later her 10-and-one-half-year old Boxer, Pibbs. Her family was encouraging adopting another dog and so she set out to a PetSmart store with her daughter, son-in-law, granddaughter Bennett and grandson John Andrew, who picked out “Harvey” and named him “Pete,” after his grandfather. Dottie spends a lot time with her grandchildren and John Andrew in particular is missing his grandfather. Pete is providing playful companionship to the family.
- Adopted Bunny Calms Anxiety – Mis lives with anxiety and sometimes experiences attacks. Her adopted bunny, Tobi, which she rescued from a PetSmart store in March of this year, helps relieve her anxiety. Tobi has a caregiving and fun personality and knows when Mis’ anxiety is rising. Tobi’s antics – like leaping onto or under the bed – make her laugh, shifting her mood.
“I have been adopting dogs all my life and Daisy is number eight, the smallest dog so far and our first puppy as we have always adopted older dogs,” said Angela McKenzie, new pet parent of Daisy, who joins husband Brad, and two sons, Henry, who is three and Jack, five, and Sabrina, an eight-year-old Great Dane mix. “With two active boys, we wanted two dogs and found Daisy online through Louie’s Legacy. We met Daisy in the PetSmart store and fell in love. Immediately, Daisy transitioned into our family and even after a short week, it felt like she has been part of our family forever. She is a wonderful puppy and a great addition to our family.”
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 450,000 stories have been submitted and nearly 2,000 posted on the #iadopted story wall. Go to petsmart.com/iadopted and petsmartcharities.org/iadopted to see the stories.
“Maybe you’re a military veteran like Ed who is comforted by their service dog. Or you’ve embraced a more active lifestyle because you have to walk an active pup, or you have a hero cat like Blake. Whatever your story is – we want to recognize all pets and share their amazing stories with the world,” said Cohen.
It’s Time to Save More Lives!
The next PetSmart Charities National Adoption Weekend takes place at local PetSmart stores this coming weekend, Sept. 16-18. All weekend long, PetSmart will host adoption events across its chain of more than 1,470 stores featuring thousands of pets to adopt. At its last two events in February and May, PetSmart set records – more than 25,000 and 24,000 pets adopted, respectively.
Where: Nationwide at PetSmart stores – “The Adopt Spot!”
When: Fri., Sept. 16, and Sat., Sept. 17, 9 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Sun., Sept. 18, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. & at The Adopt Spot at Chase Field, 1:10 p.m. game
Contact: Find the PetSmart store nearest you at http://pets.petsmart.com/adoptions/ or call 1-877-473-8762.
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.
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
dbickelmann@golin.com
469-680-2503
PetSmart Media Line:
623-587-2177
Source: PetSmart