Landmark Seven Millionth Adoption Marks New PetSmart® Milestone and Celebrates “People-Saving” Power of Pets

Daisy Has New Forever Home Thanks to “The Adopt Spot™”

PHOENIX–(BUSINESS WIRE)–When Daisy trotted out the doors of a Staten Island PetSmart store on a
Saturday in August, she became more than the milestone-setting seven
millionth pet adopted through PetSmart® and PetSmart Charities® since
the in-store adoption program began in 1994. She became another
powerful story of people saving pets and pets saving people.

To date, PetSmart, “The Adopt Spot,” has been a part of more of these
heartwarming stories than any other organization. PetSmart achieves this
milestone together with nonprofits PetSmart Charities and PetSmart
Charities™ of Canada, who facilitate in-store adoptions by creating
lasting relationships with the more than 3,000 animal welfare partners
that bring adoptable pets to the stores. As a strategic grant making
organization, PetSmart Charities has also donated more than $285 million
directly to help pets – more than any other animal welfare funder in
North America.

Every 30 seconds a PetSmart store is open, a pet’s life is saved,
totaling about 1,400 lives saved every day. PetSmart, “The Adopt Spot,”
has become the leading resource for pet adoptions in North America.

“Daisy’s adoption is an enormous milestone. Not just because she is the
seven millionth adoption PetSmart has facilitated, but because she has
had such an impact on her new family already, bringing joy and love to
the McKenzie family,” said Eran Cohen, chief customer experience
officer, PetSmart.

“Daisy was transported from the South to New York to have a better shot
at being adopted. Already she is transitioning seamlessly into the
high-energy McKenzie family as a second canine family member joining
adopted dog Sabrina, pet parents Angela and Brad, and their two busy
boys under five Jack and Henry,” said Cohen. “We believe every pet is
tremendously special. And while we’ve always celebrated how people save
these animals’ lives – like Angela and Brad did – this is the perfect
time to also reflect on the amazing ways pets save people.”

Over the next few months, Daisy’s adoption story is just one of seven
PetSmart will share to show how pets save people:

• Blake Senses Owner’s Seizures – With a personality as big as
  Texas, this little black kitten spent months in foster care after his
  original owner got sick and couldn’t care for him. Days after being
  adopted, Blake woke his new pet parent Glen by biting his toes,
  alerting him to an oncoming seizure. Glen suffers from three separate
  brain diseases with frequent seizures that can be deadly if they
  strike during sleep. With Blake’s sixth sense he instinctively knows
  the onset of a seizure and encourages Glen to take action such as
  sitting down (or waking up), acting as a life-saving companion and
  forming an incredible bond.
• Polly Helps Vet Cope with PTSD – As an adult dog, Polly’s
  chances at adoptions were not good. However, Vietnam veteran Ed fell
  in love with her. Today, Polly has graduated from service dog training
  and is a constant companion to Ed, who suffers from Post-Traumatic
  Stress Disorder (PTSD). Polly spent months in a shelter. Ed said, “I
  found Polly when I did because she has a higher calling in life.”
• Chica and Bruce’s New Normal – After losing his beloved wife to
  cancer and just months later, his dog Taco to a heart condition, Bruce
  thought he’d never adopt again. But he fell in love with and adopted
  Chica, a little Chihuahua. After a year together, Bruce often remarks,
  “I don’t know who rescued whom?” Chica loves rides in Bruce’s Corvette
  classic and has provided the canine companionship he needed to embrace
  life once again.
• Zephyr to Save Lots of Lives – Adam adopted Zephyr, a German
  Shepherd mix, from a Miami PetSmart store and then moved to Michigan
  so Adam could finish his graduate school. With a love of the outdoors
  and having emergency medical experience himself, Adam decided to put
  Zephyr into the Michigan Search and Rescue. The dog is moving through
  the program with flying colors and is expected to reach
  field-deployable status as an Air Scent Search and Rescue K9 by next
  spring.
• Pete Helps Grandma and Grandson with Loss – In May, Dottie lost
  her husband of nearly 43 years and two months later her
  10-and-one-half-year-old Boxer, Pibbs. Her family was encouraging
  adopting another dog and so she set out to a PetSmart store with her
  daughter, son-in-law, granddaughter Bennett and grandson John Andrew,
  who picked out “Harvey” and named him “Pete,” after his grandfather.
  Dottie spends a lot time with her grandchildren and John Andrew in
  particular is missing his grandfather. Pete is providing playful
  companionship to the family.
• Adopted Bunny Calms Anxiety – Mis lives with anxiety and
  sometimes experiences attacks. Her adopted bunny, Tobi, which she
  rescued from a PetSmart store in March of this year, helps relieve her
  anxiety. Tobi has a caregiving and fun personality and knows when Mis’
  anxiety is rising. Tobi’s antics – like leaping onto or under the bed
  – make her laugh, shifting her mood.

“I have been adopting dogs all my life and Daisy is number eight, the
smallest dog so far and our first puppy as we have always adopted older
dogs,” said Angela McKenzie, new pet parent of Daisy, who joins husband
Brad, and two sons, Henry, who is three and Jack, five, and Sabrina, an
eight-year-old Great Dane mix. “With two active boys, we wanted two dogs
and found Daisy online through Louie’s Legacy. We met Daisy in the
PetSmart store and fell in love. Immediately, Daisy transitioned into
our family and even after a short week, it felt like she has been part
of our family forever. She is a wonderful puppy and a great addition to
our family.”

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 450,000 stories have been submitted and nearly 2,000
posted on the #iadopted story wall. Go to petsmart.com/iadopted
and petsmartcharities.org/iadopted
to see the stories.

“Maybe you’re a military veteran like Ed who is comforted by their
service dog. Or you’ve embraced a more active lifestyle because you have
to walk an active pup, or you have a hero cat like Blake. Whatever your
story is – we want to recognize all pets and share their amazing stories
with the world,” said Cohen.

It’s Time to Save More Lives!

The next PetSmart Charities National Adoption Weekend takes place at
local PetSmart stores this coming weekend, Sept. 16 – 18. All weekend
long, PetSmart will host adoption events across its chain of more than
1,470 stores featuring thousands of pets to adopt. At its last two
events in February and May, PetSmart set records – more than 25,000 and
24,000 pets adopted, respectively.

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.

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.

Contacts

Golin for PetSmart Inc.:
Danielle Bickelmann, 469-680-2503
dbickelmann@golin.com
or
PetSmart
Media Line:
623-587-2177