PetSmart Charities® Celebrates 25 Years of Bringing People and Pets Together

$400 million in grant funding and 8.5 million pet adoptions are among the milestones the leading funder of animal welfare will celebrate in 2019

PHOENIX, April 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- From the moment PetSmart's first store opened twenty-five years ago, the leading pet retailer has held firm in its stance never to sell cats or dogs in their stores.  With so many healthy, adorable pets in shelters awaiting the chance to find a loving home and family, PetSmart allocates valuable square-footage in every store to offer local pet shelters the chance to feature adoptable pets.  A quarter of a century and 8.5 million pet adoptions later, this legacy continues.

Through its partnership with PetSmart Charities (a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization), PetSmart still invites nearly 4,000 humane societies, SPCAs and pet rescues to bring adoptable pets into its 1,600 bright, convenient and accessible locations across North America. The leading pet retailer provides complimentary pet food, litter, toys, containment supplies, collars and leashes to ensure pets are healthy, happy and comfortable while they wait to find a new home. Pet adoptions happen every day in PetSmart stores as well as on PetSmart Charities' National Adoption Weekend events hosted in February, May, September and November. In fact, more than two pets are adopted every minute a PetSmart store is open.

"When we embarked on this journey to help pets in need in 1994, we estimated that tens of millions of pets were entering the shelter system every single year," says Deborah Turcott, acting president, PetSmart Charities. "Through focused efforts on spay and neuter programs and the growing popularity of pet adoption, we've seen a steady decline in the number of homeless pets in our country.  Today, approximately 3.6 million pets enter shelters annually¹. That's remarkable progress and it's something we're proud to have supported—both through our strategic grant-making and our pet adoption efforts."

But PetSmart Charities' success in pet adoptions is just one part of the story. Thanks to the generous donations PetSmart shoppers make at the PIN-Pads in PetSmart stores, PetSmart Charities has granted more than $400 million over the past 25 years to animal welfare organizations and other nonprofits that support pets and pet parents. That grant funding helps shelter pets to thrive and supports spay and neuter programs that humanely control and reduce pet homelessness. It also expands the size and scope of pet therapy programs that bring the healing power of pets to young patients in hospitals across the continent.

More recently, grants from PetSmart Charities have been earmarked to keep people and pets together when they need each other the most—during times of crisis and natural disasters. In fact, in the aftermath of hurricanes such as Sandy, Katrina, Harvey, and Michael and after wildfires that burned across Fort McMurray, Alberta, British Columbia, and the state of California, PetSmart Charities granted more than $14 million in emergency relief funding and supplies. Those donations went directly to animal welfare agencies working on the front lines to rescue, care for and reunite pets with the families they may have been separated from while fleeing for safety or being evacuated from affected areas.

"Over the past 25 years, PetSmart Charities has become the leading funder of animal welfare in North America, and it is thanks in large part to the donations we receive from our customers each and every day," says J.K. Symancyk, president of PetSmart Inc., and member of the board at PetSmart Charities.  "Millions of customers have entrusted our organization with their philanthropy, and in turn, we have ensured more than 90 cents of every dollar donated goes directly towards achieving our mission. As we celebrate our 25^th anniversary, I hope PetSmart shoppers will share a sense of great pride in knowing they have made a difference in the lives of pets and pet parents across North America—and together, we'll continue to make a difference for decades to come."

For more information on the grants provided by PetSmart Charities and how to apply, please visit www.petsmartcharities.org/pro or www.petsmartcharities.ca/pro.

About PetSmart Charities®
PetSmart Charities, Inc. is committed to finding loving homes for all pets by supporting programs and thought leadership that bring people and pets together. Through its in-store adoption program in all PetSmart® stores across the U.S. and Puerto Rico, PetSmart Charities helps to find homes and families for more than 500,000 shelter pets each year.  PetSmart Charities also provides grant funding to nonprofits aligned with its mission. Each year, millions of generous PetSmart shoppers help pets in need by donating to PetSmart Charities using the PIN pads at checkout registers inside PetSmart stores.  In turn, PetSmart Charities efficiently uses more than 90 cents of every dollar donated to fulfill its role as the leading funder of animal welfare in North America, granting more than $400 million since its inception in 1994. Independent from PetSmart Inc., PetSmart Charities is a 501(c)(3) organization that has received the Four-Star Rating from Charity Navigator, a third-party organization that reports on the effectiveness, accountability and transparency of nonprofits, for the past 16 years in a row – placing it among the top one percent of charities rated by this organization. To learn more visit www.petsmartcharities.org

¹ www.shelteranimalscount.org

SOURCE PetSmart Charities

Related Links

http://www.petsmartcharities.org