Expanded PetSmart Promise Program Allows PetsHotel® Locations to House Additional Pets for Homeless Families

16 New PetSmart Promise Locations Help Temporarily Homeless Families Keep Their Pets

PHOENIX--()--A national program that helps temporarily homeless families keep all members of their family together – including their four-legged family members – is expanding into 16 PetSmart PetsHotel locations nationwide today. PetSmart Promise, the result of collaboration between PetSmart and Family Promise, will now work with two dozen PetsHotel locations across the nation to provide complimentary pet boarding space to pet parents participating in a local Family Promise program. These 16 additional locations will join the six that kicked off the program in December 2013. These facilities provide pets in transition a safe, comforting place to call home, while their families get back on the road to independent housing.

“PetSmart Promise ensures that families don’t have to give up their beloved pets just because they find themselves temporarily homeless,” said David Lenhardt, president and CEO, PetSmart. “The expansion of PetSmart Promise into 16 additional cities means that even more families can take advantage of the program. By working together with our partners at Banfield Pet Hospital® and Family Promise, we’re able to keep more families together and provide a sense of stability to these families facing a difficult situation.”

The PetSmart PetsHotel locations will work directly with local Family Promise affiliates to facilitate intake of the dog or cat into their facility. As part of this partnership, Banfield Pet Hospital provides free veterinary consultations and services to ensure participating pets receive the preventive care they need. Banfield veterinarians will administer a wellness check-up, key vaccines, heartworm preventive and parasite control including dewormer during their stay at the hotel. In addition to safe overnight accommodations, the in-store PetSmart PetsHotel team provides access to Doggie Day CampTM, so the dogs can play and exercise with other dogs; as well as treats, nail trim and bath before the pet leaves the facility.

“At Banfield, we understand the special bond between people and pets. Because of this, we are eager to help these families keep their pets – and keep them healthy,” said Dan Aja, DVM, senior vice president and chief medical officer for Banfield Pet Hospital. “We have a commitment to make a better world for pets, and that includes working with our friends at PetSmart to donate preventive care to each Family Promise pet during their stay at the PetsHotel.”

PetSmart first established PetSmart Promise as an on-site kennel facility pilot program with Family Promise of Greater Phoenix in 2012 and has expanded into six additional cities over the past two years (Bozeman, Mont.; Fayetteville, N.C.; Akron, Ohio; Cincinnati, Ohio; Montgomery, Ala. and Wasilla, Alaska). In addition to the services outlined above, PetSmart Promise has assisted affiliates with the establishment of a foster network to care for pets when a Family Promise pet housing facility or PetSmart PetsHotel is not available. Through the PetSmart Promise program, PetSmart has also donated over 80 aquariums to affiliates across the country. The program’s ultimate goal is to continue until all Family Promise affiliates have the opportunity to participate at a level that is appropriate to them.

“The rollout of the PetSmart Promise program into 16 new PetsHotel locations means that more families will be able to keep their pets during their time of homelessness,” said Karen Olson, president of Family Promise. “PetSmart PetsHotel locations have already been able to provide over 850 shelter nights to Family Promise pets – an invaluable service to the families going through our program.”

PetSmart Promise now works with PetSmart PetsHotel locations in the following cities (today’s expansion in italics):

California: Folsom, Northridge, Tustin
Colorado: Colorado Springs, Littleton
Florida: Delray Beach, Tampa (North Tampa)
Georgia: Atlanta (Duluth), Suwanee
Massachusetts: Boston (Framingham)
Missouri: Kansas City
North Carolina: Cary, Charlotte
New Jersey: Marlton, Brick
New Mexico: Albuquerque
Oregon: Hillsboro
Pennsylvania: Springfield
South Carolina: Greenville
Texas: Pasadena, Dallas, Houston (East Plains)

To learn more about the PetSmart Promise options for Family Promise facilities, please visit: http://www.petsmartpromise.com.

About PetSmart

PetSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ: PETM) is the largest specialty pet retailer of services and solutions for the lifetime needs of pets. At PetSmart, we believe pets make us better people. That’s why we create more moments for people to be inspired by pets. This mission impacts everything we do for our customers, the way we support our associates, and how we give back to our communities. We employ approximately 54,000 associates, operate approximately 1,387 pet stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico and approximately 201 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. Through petsmart.com and pet360.com, we offer 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 400,000 homeless pets each year. In addition, PetSmart supports organizations that make communities a better place to call home through our philanthropy program, PetSmart Gives Back™. By giving back to the communities where we live and work, PetSmart not only celebrates the power of pets to enrich people's lives—we live it.

About Family Promise

Family Promise is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to helping homeless and low-income families achieve sustainable independence. The organization is based in Summit, New Jersey, where they were founded in 1988 on the belief that Americans are compassionate people who want to make a difference. Today Family Promise comprises 182 Affiliates in 41 states, with more in development. Family Promise programs involve more than 160,000 volunteers and they provide assistance to more than 50,000 family members annually. Family Promise is celebrating their 25th Anniversary as a national organization in 2013. Since their founding, they have served about 500,000 people, including tens of thousands of homeless families who found temporary homes at Affiliates nationwide.

About Banfield Pet Hospital®

Founded in Portland, Ore. in 1955, Banfield is the largest general veterinary practice in the world. In 2007, Banfield joined the Mars, Inc. family of businesses, and today it is more than 900 hospitals strong in neighborhoods across the United States and Puerto Rico. More than 3,200 veterinarians at Banfield are committed to giving pets the highest quality of veterinary care. Banfield hospitals offer a full range of comprehensive medical services, computerized medical records, preventive care plans for pets and extended operating hours. Banfield Pet Hospital provides preventive care for millions of pets each year through Optimum Wellness Plans®. For journalists seeking more information, visit banfield.com or contact the Media Hotline at 888-355-0595.

Contacts

For PetSmart
MEDIA INQUIRIES ONLY:
Christina Saull, 202-518-6480
Christina.Saull@widmeyer.com

Release Summary

A national program that helps temporarily homeless families keep all members of their family together, including their pets, is expanding into 16 PetSmart PetsHotel locations nationwide today.

Contacts

For PetSmart
MEDIA INQUIRIES ONLY:
Christina Saull, 202-518-6480
Christina.Saull@widmeyer.com