PetSmart Charities® Announces New Strategic Grant-Making Focus Supporting Expanded Mission to Connect Pets and People

Newly Expanded Grantee Opportunities Available to Support At-Risk
Families and Programs that Enhance People’s Lives Through Pets

PHOENIX–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Today, PetSmart
Charities® Inc., the leading funder of animal welfare in North
America, announced a new focus on strategic grant-making and unveiled an
expanded mission, allowing it to reach beyond its core mission to end
pet homelessness and help pets in need to include connecting pets and
people. Now, with 10 grant categories created under the new mission, the
nonprofit will support important initiatives such as service animal or
pet therapy training programs and at-risk families with pets in
transition to make an even greater impact with the help of thousands of
animal welfare organizations across North America.

“Our newly expanded mission at PetSmart Charities is to find lifelong,
loving homes for all pets by supporting programs and thought leadership
that bring people and pets together,” said Dr. David Haworth, DVM,
Ph.D., president of PetSmart Charities®. “This enhanced mission allows
us to support animal welfare organizations in more ways than ever before
and even reach other nonprofits that help connect people and pets. In
addition to our ongoing support of shelters, pet adoption and
spay/neuter efforts, the new grant categories will now help people
enhance their lives through pets.”

PetSmart Charities will also be introducing an enhanced online
application process featuring the 10 grant categories under the
organization’s four strategic areas of focus.

#1: Preventing Pet Homelessness

To help decrease the number of pets entering shelters, PetSmart
Charities now offers three grant categories to support programs and
initiatives that proactively prevent pet homelessness and mitigate pet
homelessness during family transitions. Grant categories for
consideration include:

• Spay/neuter: Preventing unplanned litters
  through targeted spay/neuter programs and clinic development, free or
  low-cost spay/neuter surgeries, trap-neuter-return (TNR) efforts, as
  well as veterinary school initiatives.
• Intake diversion*: Keeping pets from
  entering shelters by making wellness clinics, as well as behavioral
  training and education more accessible.
• Keeping pets and families together*:
  Creating resources for families that are experiencing or may
  experience domestic violence, homelessness and/or Military leave and
  can no longer accommodate their pet.

#2: Helping Shelter Pets Thrive

An estimated 7 million pets enter shelters every year. Nearly 3 million
healthy, adoptable pets never find homes, facing euthanasia due to lack
of capacity. By supporting organizations that provide resources, build
capacity to care for homeless pets and focus on adoption, PetSmart
Charities expects to enhance pets’ lives in shelters and help them find
their forever home. Grant categories for consideration include:

• Shelter management*: Supporting best
  practices in areas such as mentoring, disease control and
  strengthening shelter infrastructure.
• Pet transport*: Supporting organizations
  that relocate adoptable pets to areas where the demand for pet
  adoption is high so they will have the best chance possible at finding
  their forever family.
• Conferences and training: Funding
  enrichment programs and workshops for those working for and
  volunteering within the animal welfare industry.

#3: Supporting the Bond between People and Pets

While PetSmart Charities always celebrates how people save pets’ lives
through adoption, there are inspiring stories of how pets can save
people. By supporting organizations that bring people and pets together
to leverage the power of pets to enhance the human spirit, PetSmart
Charities ultimately aims to end pet homelessness and drive awareness of
the benefits of pet ownership. Grant categories for consideration
include:

• Adoptions: Partnering with local animal
  welfare organizations to connect people with adoptable pets everyday
  at PetSmart stores or and at PetSmart Charities’ signature events,
  including National Adoption Weekends which are held four times a year.
• Capacity building*: Assisting with the
  construction, rebuilding or remodeling of animal welfare organization
  facilities that fulfill the needs of homeless pets.
• Enhancing the quality of life through pets*:
  Supporting programs that train pets to become service animals for
  military veterans or people with disabilities and for pet therapy
  programs in hospitals, schools, senior homes or with at-risk
  populations.

#4: Providing Emergency Relief

In the event of a weather crisis and natural disaster, such as the Fort
McMurray fires in Alberta, Louisiana Flooding, and the recent Hurricane
Matthew storm, the role of local animal organizations has been critical
to providing immediate support in times of crises. Temporary shelter,
pet supplies and medical care are just some of the immediate needs of
misplaced or abandoned pets. In 2015, PetSmart Charities and PetSmart
Charities of Canada assisted more than 9,400 pets through emergency
relief efforts, bringing its total to 230,000 pets assisted across North
America since 2007. Grant categories for emergency relief include:

• Emergency relief and disaster response:
  Providing assistance in the event of a natural or man-made disaster
  during the rescue, relief and/or recovery stages.

Four of the ten grant categories are now open for applications, while
the remaining grant cycles will be announced Feb. 2017.

As the leading funder in helping pets in need across North America,
PetSmart Charities, along with its Canadian counterpart, PetSmart
Charities™ of Canada, has contributed more than $290 million to date to
directly help pets – more than any other funder. Together with the
support of PetSmart® and its generous shoppers who donate at the pin
pad, PetSmart Charities® hopes to donate an estimated $30 million in
2016 alone and, with its thousands of local animal welfare partners who
bring adoptable pets to PetSmart stores, has reached the 7 millionth
in-store pet adoption milestone.

For more information on how to make a donation to PetSmart Charities®
and PetSmart Charities™ of Canada or apply for a grant on behalf of a
deserving animal welfare organization**, please visit PetSmartCharities.org
or PetSmartCharities.ca.

*Grant cycles will be announced Feb. 2017
**Must provide
documentation verifying status as a 501(c)(3) organization for the U.S.
or registered charity in Canada.

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 PetSmart Charities to help pets in need by making
donations on a pin pad at the register. PetSmart Charities efficiently
uses 90 cents of every dollar to support its mission of finding
lifelong, loving homes for all pets. 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

PetSmart Charities, Inc.
Lauren Sawyer, 623-295-3238
lsawyer@petsmart.com
or
PetSmart
Media Line:
623-587-2177