PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A total of 25,522 pets found their forever homes last week during the PetSmart Charities National Adoption Weekend event held at more than 1,470 PetSmart stores across North America – setting a new event record with the most pets adopted at these national events since they were initiated by the retailer and PetSmart Charities more than two decades ago.
This news is on the heels of the organizations’ seven millionth pet adoption milestone, which they started celebrating last week. The lucky seven millionth adopted pet is Daisy, a Fox Terrier-Foxhound mix puppy, who was adopted out of a PetSmart store in Staten Island by the McKenzie family. Daisy serves as the seven millionth pet adopted at a PetSmart store since the in-store adoption program began in the late ‘90s.
Pet adoptions take place at PetSmart Charities National Adoption Weekends, as well as every day at PetSmart – where for every 30 seconds a PetSmart store is open a pet's life is saved, totaling about 1,400 pets’ lives saved every day.
Approximately 25,522 pets were adopted through the event last week (Monday – Sunday), beating the event record by nearly 500 pets and representing a 23 percent increase over last year’s September adoption event.
These signature National Adoption Weekend events at PetSmart are conducted in collaboration with PetSmart Charities®, PetSmart CharitiesTM of Canada and adoption partners – more than 3,000 local animal welfare organizations that bring the adoptable pets into stores, where people save pets and pets save people. While called PetSmart Charities National Adoption “Weekend,” the adoption efforts span the week, with the majority of the pets – nearly 23,000 – adopted between Friday and Sunday, when many stores host large parking lot tent events with their local adoption partners to connect adoptable pets with their forever families.
“We are thrilled to celebrate our seven millionth pet adoption and this record-breaking National Adoption Weekend, where more than 25,500 pets found their forever homes this past week in our stores,” said Eran Cohen, chief customer experience officer, PetSmart. “Our National Adoption Weekend events are highly coordinated efforts involving nearly all aspects of our company, PetSmart Charities and PetSmart Charities of Canada and thousands of local animal welfare partners. From setting up tents and preparing stores to serve as adoption centers to coordinating with our local partners, we couldn’t be more proud of the collaborative efforts that resulted in our recent adoption successes – together we have saved more than seven million lives in total and more than 25,500 in just one week.”
As a gift to those that adopt and save a life, PetSmart gives its free Adoption Kit, which provides advice on how to integrate a pet into the family and true value – with more than $400 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™, as well as a free veterinarian visit, a free training session with an accredited trainer, a free Doggie Day Camp session and a free overnight boarding stay, as well as half-off on two grooming services. 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 the mishaps that are sure to occur.
The PetSmart Adoption Kit is industry-leading and available to anybody who adopts, no matter where they adopt* – at PetSmart, a shelter, community event, or even another retailer. On average PetSmart is handing out about 10,000 free Adoption Kits every week.
*Adoption papers required.
Top 10 Most Adoption-Friendly Cities
PetSmart and PetSmart Charities congratulate Fort Worth, which adopted out the most pets in the U.S. during the week-long event. The Fort Worth area’s local adoption partners helped find lifelong, loving homes for 269 cats and dogs.
Based on PetSmart Charities’ September National Adoption Weekend data, the top 10 cities with the most pet adoptions are:
- Fort Worth, Texas (269 adoptions)
- Chattanooga, Tennessee (265 adoptions)
- Columbia, Maryland (246 adoptions)
- Albuquerque, New Mexico (243 adoptions)
- Houston, Texas (243 adoptions)
- Cincinnati, Ohio (188 adoptions)
- San Antonio, Texas (182 adoptions)
- Dallas, Texas (174 adoptions)
- Terre Haute, Indiana (158 adoptions)
- Tucson, Arizona (145 adoptions)
The next PetSmart Charities National Adoption Weekend will be held November 11-13 with adoptable pets also available every day at stores. If you’re looking to add a pet to your home, consider saving a life by adopting. Visit or call your local store for more information on adoptable pets or visit www.petsmartcharities.org for more information.
Pet parents everywhere are invited to share their own pet’s adoption story on Instagram or Twitter using #iadopted for a chance to be featured on a special adoption story wall at www.petsmart.com and www.petsmartcharities.org. So far, more than 1,500 posted on the #iadopted story wall. Go to petsmart.com/iadopted and petsmartcharities.org/iadopted to see the stories.
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.
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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.
