PHOENIX, 2016-Nov-04 — /EPR Retail News/ — Pets often rise to the top of the holiday gift lists for children and grown-ups alike and many families across North America will get a new puppy or kitten for Christmas, yet experts from PetSmart Charities say adopting a four-legged friend before the hectic holiday season could help ensure a more successful new pet transition and enriching holiday celebration with the new family member.
“From school concerts and social engagements to holiday shopping and overnight stays from out-of-town guests, the holidays make our lives and our homes more active than usual,” said Steve Kaufman, a certified animal welfare administrator and center of excellence manager, adoptions for PetSmart Charities. “If a new pet is on your family’s wish list, adopting before the holiday season will allow pet parents to develop a routine with their pet ahead of the holiday rush, making the transition easier for your family and your new pet.”
Together with PetSmart Charities, PetSmart Charities™ of Canada and more than 3,000 animal welfare organizations across North America, PetSmart, The Adopt Spot™, has helped find forever homes for more than 7 million adopted pets since the in-store adoption program began in 1994.
Leading up to PetSmart Charities’ National Adoption Weekend on Nov. 11-13, the pet adoption leader offers five reasons to adopt a pet before the holiday season officially hits:
5. You’ll be a holiday hero before you’ve even started shopping. Now that you’ve knocked off one of the most wanted items on your family’s holiday gift list by adopting a new pet, the rest of your holiday shopping will be a breeze.
4. You’ll have more time to transition your new pet. It’s important when transitioning a new pet into your home to spend as much time with them as possible. By adopting prior to the holidays, your pet will get focused attention and will already be feeling right at home before the busy holiday season begins.
3. You can involve your new four-legged family member in all the cherished holiday traditions. Pets enrich our lives. Including a pet in special family events and holiday traditions like enjoying treats, opening stockings, sniffing and shaking gifts under the tree, caroling or going for snowy walks after dinner can bring even more joy to your family, not to mention increase the cuteness factor of holiday photos.
2. You can get a head start on your New Year’s resolutions! The over-abundance of baked goods, lavish family meals and dinner parties during the holidays makes us all worry about our increased calorie intake. Playing hide and seek with a new kitten around the house or taking a new dog for a walk can help pet parents – and kids – develop healthy habits ahead of New Year’s resolutions while bonding with your new pet.
1. Because thousands of pets need a forever home right now.Thousands of healthy, loving, adoptable pets are currently in shelters across the country. By adopting one from PetSmart, The Adopt Spot, you’ll be giving the ultimate gift of saving a life! Visit your nearest PetSmart store from Nov. 11-13 for PetSmart Charities’ National Adoption Weekend.
“While it’s fun to imagine your loved ones opening up a carefully wrapped holiday box with a new pet inside, the adopted pet may have a hard time adjusting to his or her new home during the most wonderful, yet hectic, time of year,” said David Haworth, D.V.M., Ph.D., president of PetSmart Charities and PetSmart Charities of Canada. “Adopting ahead of the holidays gives families an opportunity to spend quality time with their new pet, transition them into their new home, and involve them in the festive spirit of the season.”
Expand your family through adoption at November National Adoption Weekend – Nov. 11-13.
What: PetSmart Charities’ National Adoption Weekend
Where: PetSmart stores across North America
When: Fri., Nov. 11 and Sat., Nov. 12, 9 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Sun., Nov. 13, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Contact: Find the PetSmart store nearest you at PetSmart.com or call 1-877-473-8762.
Share: Show us your adopted pet using the hashtags #iadopted or #adoptlove on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram
A Gift for Those that Adopt:
For every 30 seconds a PetSmart store is open, a pet’s life is saved, totaling about 1,400 lives saved every day. As a gift to those that give the gift of adoption, PetSmart offers its free Adoption Kit, which provides important content on how to integrate a pet into the family and true value – with more than $450 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™, half off on a grooming service, a free veterinarian visit, a complimentary private training session with an accredited trainer, a free Doggie Day Camp session and a free overnight boarding stay. 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 any mishaps that may occur.
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
dbickelmann@golin.com
469-680-2503
PetSmart Media Line:
623-587-2177
Source: PetSmart Inc.