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PetSmart Charities® announces new focus on grant-making and unveils expanded mission

Newly Expanded Grantee Opportunities Available to Support At-Risk Families and Programs that Enhance People’s Lives Through Pets

PHOENIX, 2016-Nov-17 — /EPR Retail News/ — Today (Nov. 15, 2016 ), PetSmart Charities® Inc., the leading funder of animal welfare in North America, announced a new focus on strategic grant-making and unveiled an expanded mission, allowing it to reach beyond its core mission to end pet homelessness and help pets in need to include connecting pets and people. Now, with 10 grant categories created under the new mission, the nonprofit will support important initiatives such as service animal or pet therapy training programs and at-risk families with pets in transition to make an even greater impact with the help of thousands of animal welfare organizations across North America.

“Our newly expanded mission at PetSmart Charities is to find lifelong, loving homes for all pets by supporting programs and thought leadership that bring people and pets together,” said Dr. David Haworth, DVM, Ph.D., president of PetSmart Charities®. “This enhanced mission allows us to support animal welfare organizations in more ways than ever before and even reach other nonprofits that help connect people and pets. In addition to our ongoing support of shelters, pet adoption and spay/neuter efforts, the new grant categories will now help people enhance their lives through pets.”

PetSmart Charities will also be introducing an enhanced online application process featuring the 10 grant categories under the organization’s four strategic areas of focus.

#1: Preventing Pet Homelessness
To help decrease the number of pets entering shelters, PetSmart Charities now offers three grant categories to support programs and initiatives that proactively prevent pet homelessness and mitigate pet homelessness during family transitions. Grant categories for consideration include:

  • Spay/neuter: Preventing unplanned litters through targeted spay/neuter programs and clinic development, free or low-cost spay/neuter surgeries, trap-neuter-return (TNR) efforts, as well as veterinary school initiatives.
  • Intake diversion*: Keeping pets from entering shelters by making wellness clinics, as well as behavioral training and education more accessible.
  • Keeping pets and families together*: Creating resources for families that are experiencing or may experience domestic violence, homelessness and/or Military leave and can no longer accommodate their pet.

#2: Helping Shelter Pets Thrive
An estimated 7 million pets enter shelters every year. Nearly 3 million healthy, adoptable pets never find homes, facing euthanasia due to lack of capacity. By supporting organizations that provide resources, build capacity to care for homeless pets and focus on adoption, PetSmart Charities expects to enhance pets’ lives in shelters and help them find their forever home. Grant categories for consideration include:

  • Shelter management*: Supporting best practices in areas such as mentoring, disease control and strengthening shelter infrastructure.
  • Pet transport*: Supporting organizations that relocate adoptable pets to areas where the demand for pet adoption is high so they will have the best chance possible at finding their forever family.
  • Conferences and training: Funding enrichment programs and workshops for those working for and volunteering within the animal welfare industry.

#3: Supporting the Bond between People and Pets
While PetSmart Charities always celebrates how people save pets’ lives through adoption, there are inspiring stories of how pets can save people. By supporting organizations that bring people and pets together to leverage the power of pets to enhance the human spirit, PetSmart Charities ultimately aims to end pet homelessness and drive awareness of the benefits of pet ownership. Grant categories for consideration include:

  • Adoptions: Partnering with local animal welfare organizations to connect people with adoptable pets everyday at PetSmart stores or and at PetSmart Charities’ signature events, including National Adoption Weekends which are held four times a year.
  • Capacity building*: Assisting with the construction, rebuilding or remodeling of animal welfare organization facilities that fulfill the needs of homeless pets.
  • Enhancing the quality of life through pets*: Supporting programs that train pets to become service animals for military veterans or people with disabilities and for pet therapy programs in hospitals, schools, senior homes or with at-risk populations.

#4: Providing Emergency Relief
In the event of a weather crisis and natural disaster, such as the Fort McMurray fires in Alberta, Louisiana Flooding, and the recent Hurricane Matthew storm, the role of local animal organizations has been critical to providing immediate support in times of crises. Temporary shelter, pet supplies and medical care are just some of the immediate needs of misplaced or abandoned pets. In 2015, PetSmart Charities and PetSmart Charities of Canada assisted more than 9,400 pets through emergency relief efforts, bringing its total to 230,000 pets assisted across North America since 2007. Grant categories for emergency relief include:

  • Emergency relief and disaster response: Providing assistance in the event of a natural or man-made disaster during the rescue, relief and/or recovery stages.

Four of the ten grant categories are now open for applications, while the remaining grant cycles will be announced Feb. 2017.
As the leading funder in helping pets in need across North America, PetSmart Charities, along with its Canadian counterpart, PetSmart Charities™ of Canada, has contributed more than $290 million to date to directly help pets – more than any other funder. Together with the support of PetSmart® and its generous shoppers who donate at the pin pad, PetSmart Charities® hopes to donate an estimated $30 million in 2016 alone and, with its thousands of local animal welfare partners who bring adoptable pets to PetSmart stores, has reached the 7 millionth in-store pet adoption milestone.

For more information on how to make a donation to PetSmart Charities® and PetSmart Charities™ of Canada or apply for a grant on behalf of a deserving animal welfare organization**, please visit PetSmartCharities.org or PetSmartCharities.ca.

*Grant cycles will be announced Feb. 2017
**Must provide documentation verifying status as a 501(c)(3) organization for the U.S. or registered charity in Canada.

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 PetSmart Charities to help pets in need by making donations on a pin pad at the register.  PetSmart Charities efficiently uses 90 cents of every dollar to support its mission of finding lifelong, loving homes for all pets.  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:
Lauren Sawyer
lsawyer@petsmart.com
623-295-3238

Source: PetSmart Inc.

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