PetSmart® and Salem Interfaith Hospitality Network Team Up on PetSmart Promise Program

Contact - MEDIA INQUIRIES ONLY:

Christina Saull, 202-518-6480, Christina.Saull@finnpartners.com

Melissa Wenzel, 480-271-5428, MWenzel@PetSmart.com

SALEM, ORE. -PetSmart Promise, a partnership between PetSmart and Family Promise, celebrated the grand opening of a new on-site dog and cat kennel facility today at Salem Interfaith Hospitality Network. The new facility is part of the PetSmart Promise national program that helps children and families that are temporarily homeless keep all members of their family together - including their four-legged family members. The on-site kennels provide pets in transition a safe, comforting place to call their temporary home, while their families get back on the road to independent housing.

'PetSmart is pleased to be able to work together with the team at Family Promise to bring this unique program to Salem,' said Craig Jenkins, Interim Regional Director, PetSmart. 'At PetSmart, we believe pets make us better people, and we know the positive impact they have on our lives. Being able to help a homeless family keep their pet during a time of transition is so important and facilities like PetSmart Promise kennels help do just that.'

Jenkins was joined by T.J. Putman, the Executive Director of Salem Interfaith Hospitality Network, and other VIPs, including Dennis Koho, Keizer City Councilor, at a ribbon cutting ceremony today. The PetSmart Promise facility is equipped with commercial grade kennels, which can house up to six dogs, and cat condos, which can house up to two cats at one time. The families staying at the Family Promise day center care for their pets on a daily basis. This also offers an enriching experience for many of the families served by the day center who don't have pets.

'Our new facility means that families who are facing homelessness don't have to make the heartbreaking decision to stay in a shelter and give up their beloved pet or live on the street to keep the family together,' said Putman. 'By working together with PetSmart, we're able to give these families hope in their time of transition.'

Salem is one of two PetSmart Promise on-site kennel facilities opening this year. Two weeks ago, a facility opened in Helena, Mont. PetSmart first established a pilot program with Family Promise of Greater Phoenix in 2012 and has opened a total of seven on-site PetSmart Promise kennel facilities over the past three years.

In addition to the on-site facilities, the PetSmart Promise program offers additional, helpful options to Family Promise facilities, including:

  • PetSmart PetsHotels® : complimentary boarding services in existing PetSmart stores for families utilizing nearby Family Promise centers. Families can visit their pets, which are cared for by PetsHotel staff. 24 PetSmart PetsHotel facilities in California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Mexico, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Texas are currently participating in this offering;
  • Installation of aquariums in Family Promise centers across the nation, giving children and families utilizing the centers the benefits of pets including the care and responsibility required of pet ownership. To date, 85 aquariums have been installed as part of this PetSmart national program; and
  • Creation of a foster network of Family Promise employees and volunteers that are on-hand to house pets when a PetSmart Promise on-site kennel or nearby PetSmart PetsHotel is not available

  • To learn more about the PetSmart Promise options for Family Promise facilities, please visit: http://www.petsmartgivesback.com.

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    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 mission 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 approximately 1,433 pet stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico and approximately 202 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 - includingPetSmart.com, PetFoodDirect.com,Pet360.com, OnlyNaturalPet.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 CharitiesTM and PetSmart CharitiesTM of Canada, PetSmart helps to save the lives of more than 450,000 homeless pets each year. In addition, PetSmart supports organizations that make communities a better place to call home through our philanthropy program, PetSmart Gives BackTM. By giving back to the communities where we live and work, PetSmart not only celebrates the power of pets to enrich people's lives-we live it.


    Follow PetSmart on Twitter: @PetSmart
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    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 192 Affiliates in 42 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.

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