PetSmart® and its Shoppers Give More than 2 Million Plush Toys to Local Communities and Generate $1.6 to Support Animal-Assisted Therapy Programs in Children's Hospitals

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Jan 03, 2020, 08:00 ET

PHOENIX, Jan. 3, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Thousands of generous PetSmart shoppers made the holidays a little brighter for both pets and people with a toy drive that donated more than two million toys to those in need. The plush toys, purchased by shoppers and donated through toy drives in PetSmart's 1,660 stores, were donated to children's hospitals, senior centers, animal shelters and other non-profit organizations across North America. Each PetSmart store selected an organization in its community as a toy drive beneficiary. In addition to the massive donation, more than $1.6 million was raised through sales of PetSmart's holiday philanthropic collection to fund animal-assisted therapy programs in children's hospitals.

Each year since 2004, from mid-October through late December, PetSmart stores gather donated toys for organizations to distribute before Christmas Eve. This year, in Texas, the Lubbock PetSmart store donated 6,071 toys to the local Toys for Tots campaign as well as Meals on Wheels, bringing smiles to homebound seniors who received a plush toy with delivered meals. In Canada, the Northeast Edmonton PetSmart store donated over 3,000 toys to children's welfare organizations, including patients in the cardiac unit at Stollery Children's Hospital. The Caguas PetSmart store in Puerto Rico donated 2,601 toys to local churches, fire and police departments where they will continue to be used as a source of comfort for children and families who experience traumatic situations while recovery efforts continue.

Chance the Dog, Lucky the Cat, Hope the Bunny and Wish the Unicorn are an exclusive line of plush toys that squeak when squeezed, making them perfect gifts for people and pets alike. In addition to the joy they bring to children, seniors and pets during each holiday season, these stuffed toys continue to give back all year long with ten percent of the sale of each toy donated to PetSmart Charities® and PetSmart Charities® of Canada. Those funds will be used to bring the healing power of pets through animal-assisted therapy programs to patients receiving care at children's hospitals.

For more information about PetSmart and the Holiday Philanthropic Collection visit www.petsmart.com. For more information about PetSmart Charities visit www.petsmartcharities.org.

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. PetSmart employs approximately 56,000 associates and operates more than 1,650 pet stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, as well as more than 200 in-store PetSmart PetsHotel® dog and cat boarding facilities. The retailer provides a broad range of competitively priced pet food and products, as well as services such as dog training, pet grooming, pet boarding, PetSmart Doggie Day Camp™ and pet adoption. PetSmart, PetSmart Charities® and PetSmart Charities® of Canada work with more than 3,500 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 9 million adoptions, more than any other brick-and-mortar organization. In May 2017, PetSmart acquired Chewy.com, a leading online retailer of pet food and products in the U.S., which operates as an independent subsidiary.

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SOURCE PetSmart