PetSmart, Inc.

WHAT:

    

In support of the “Week of Giving for Rady Children’s,” PetSmart Charities, the leading funder of animal welfare in North America, will host “Animals Give to Rady,” an adoption event at the PetSmart store at 3396 Murphy Canyon Rd, San Diego, to help raise awareness of Rady Children’s Hospital, a local hospital with a pet therapy program that is enabled through funding support of PetSmart Charities. In addition to hundreds of adoptable pets, therapy dogs from the San Diego-based hospital will be on-site for meet-and-greets to give prospective pet parents a first-hand experience of how impactful pets can be.

 

WHY:

 All pets can provide great joy, support and even therapy to help sick children heal. PetSmart Charities’ mission is to find lifelong, loving homes for all pets by supporting programs that bring people and pets together. This event is designed to generate awareness of the enriching benefits of pets, help connect prospective pet parents and families with adorable adoptable pets, as well as raise funds to continue to expand the Paws for Hope Pet Therapy Program at the Rady Children’s Hospital.
 
To date, PetSmart Charities has committed $250,000 to help fund this program which helps reduce the stress of hospitalization of children. Visitors can learn more about this program and make a donation to Rady Children’s Hospital at the adoption event.
 

WHEN:

 Fri., Jan. 27 and Sat., Jan. 28, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
 

WHERE:

 PetSmart - 3396 Murphy Canyon Rd, San Diego, CA 92123
 

INTERVIEWS

 - PetSmart Charities and PetSmart representatives to talk about the power of pets

AVAILABLE:

 - Rady Children’s Hospital representatives with their four-legged canine therapy members by their side will discuss the impact and achievements of the Paws for Hope Pet Therapy Program
- Representatives from 15 San Diego-based animal welfare organizations, who are teaming up with PetSmart and PetSmart Charities to make a myriad of adoptable pets available to this event
 

VISUALS:

 - Adorable adoptable pets available in San Diego
- Pet lovers interacting with four-legged members of the canine therapy program (Fri. only)
- San Diego Sockers team members interacting with adoptable pets and signing autographs for local soccer fans (Fri. only)
 

MEDIA

 Lauren Sawyer

CONTACT:

lsawyer@petsmart.com

623-271-3920

 

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®

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 55,000 associates, operate approximately 1,500 pet stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico and 204 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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