PETSMART, INC. Today, a national program that helps temporarily homeless families keep all members of their family together – including their four-legged family members - is celebrating the two year anniversary of the program’s launch in Phoenix. The PetSmart Promise program builds pet kennel facilities at Family Promise day centers for temporarily homeless families across the United States. The concept initiated with Family Promise of Greater Phoenix in 2012, and since has expanded across the country with seven additional facilities, including five opening this year.
“It’s been an honor to serve the families of Greater Phoenix, along with our great partner PetSmart, over the last two years,” said Ted Taylor, executive director of Family Promise. “Since the inception of PetSmart Promise two years ago, the Phoenix location has served 37 families including 36 dogs and 19 cats. This translates to pets spending 1,546 nights with us – and not in a car or on the street - since the program began.”
This partnership expands existing Family Promise day centers throughout the country to include facilities for families who are in transition or temporarily homeless to keep their dog or cat at the shelter with them. The goal of the PetSmart Promise program is to open new facilities each year until all 182 Family Promise facilities have the opportunity to participate in the program at a level that is appropriate for them.
“No family should ever have to make the heartbreaking decision of giving up their pet during an already difficult time,” said David Lenhardt, president and chief executive officer of PetSmart. “We know the positive impact pets have on our everyday lives so partnering with Family Promise was a natural fit for us. The introduction of the PetSmart Promise on-site in Phoenix marked the first homeless shelter in the area willing to accept pets - that’s something we are incredibly proud to be a part of.”
The PetSmart Promise program offers a variety of options for Family Promise facilities, based on individual needs and limitations. These options include on-site pet housing facility for cats and dogs; complimentary use of boarding space in existing PetSmart stores via the PetsHotel program for families using nearby Family Promise centers; installation of aquariums in Family Promise day centers across the nation; and the creation of a foster network of Family Promise employees and volunteers to house pets when a Family Promise pet housing facility or PetSmart PetsHotel is not available.
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 celebrated 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.For more information on Family Promise of Greater Phoenix, please visit http://www.familypromiseaz.org.
About PetSmart
PetSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ: PETM) is the largest specialty pet retailer of services and solutions for the lifetime needs of pets. The company employs approximately 53,000 associates and operates approximately 1,352 pet stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, 200 in-store PetSmart® PetsHotel® dog and cat boarding facilities and is a leading online provider of pet supplies and pet care information (http://www.petsmart.com). PetSmart provides a broad range of competitively priced pet food and pet products; and offers dog training, pet grooming, pet boarding, PetSmart Doggie Day CampSM day care services and pet adoption services. Through its in-store pet adoption partnership with PetSmart Charities® and PetSmart Charities® of Canada, PetSmart has helped save the lives of more than 5.7 million pets since 1994. PetSmart Charities, Inc. and PetSmart Charities of Canada (collectively “PetSmart Charities”) are independent, nonprofit organizations that save the lives of homeless pets and reduce shelter intake through spay and neuter efforts. In 2013, nearly 440,000 dogs and cats found homes through PetSmart Charities’ adoption centers in all PetSmart stores and by sponsoring community adoption events. PetSmart Charities is the leader in granting money to help pets in need, with more than $34 million given in 2013 throughout North America.
