PetSmart and Charities Announce Record-Breaking Adoption Numbers at National Adoption Weekend

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A total of 25,522 pets were adopted during the PetSmart Charities National Adoption Weekend event held September 12 to 18 at more than 1,470 PetSmart stores across North America, setting a new event record with the most pets adopted at these national events since they were initiated by the retailer and PetSmart Charities more than two decades ago.

The news comes on the heels of the organizations’ seven millionth pet adoption milestone. The lucky seven millionth adopted pet is Daisy, a Fox Terrier-Foxhound mix puppy, who was adopted out of a PetSmart store in Staten Island, New York, by the McKenzie family.

Pet adoptions take place at PetSmart Charities National Adoption Weekends, as well as every day at PetSmart, where the company reports that “for every 30 seconds a PetSmart store is open, a pet’s life is saved, totaling about 1,400 pets’ lives saved every day.”

This year’s event broke previous records by nearly 500 pets and represented a 23 percent increase over last year’s September adoption event.

These signature National Adoption Weekend events at PetSmart are conducted in collaboration with PetSmart Charities, PetSmart Charities of Canada and adoption partners—more than 3,000 local animal welfare organizations that bring the adoptable pets into stores. While called PetSmart Charities National Adoption “Weekend,” the adoption efforts span the week, with the majority of the pets—nearly 23,000—adopted between Friday and Sunday, when many stores host large parking lot tent events with their local adoption partners to connect adoptable pets with their forever families.

“We are thrilled to celebrate our seven millionth pet adoption and this record-breaking National Adoption Weekend, where more than 25,500 pets found their forever homes this past week in our stores,” said Eran Cohen, chief customer experience officer for PetSmart. “Our National Adoption Weekend events are highly coordinated efforts involving nearly all aspects of our company, PetSmart Charities and PetSmart Charities of Canada and thousands of local animal welfare partners. From setting up tents and preparing stores to serve as adoption centers to coordinating with our local partners, we couldn’t be more proud of the collaborative efforts that resulted in our recent adoption successes. Together, we have saved more than seven million lives in total and more than 25,500 in just one week.”

PetSmart and PetSmart Charities congratulated Fort Worth, which adopted out the most pets in the U.S. during the week-long event. The Fort Worth area’s local adoption partners helped find homes for 269 cats and dogs.

Based on PetSmart Charities’ September National Adoption Weekend data, the top 10 cities with the most pet adoptions were:

Fort Worth, Texas (269 adoptions)

Chattanooga, Tennessee (265 adoptions)

Columbia, Maryland (246 adoptions)

Albuquerque, New Mexico (243 adoptions)

Houston, Texas (243 adoptions)

Cincinnati, Ohio (188 adoptions)

San Antonio, Texas (182 adoptions)

Dallas, Texas (174 adoptions)

Terre Haute, Indiana (158 adoptions)

Tucson, Arizona (145 adoptions)

The next PetSmart Charities National Adoption Weekend will be held November 11-13 with adoptable pets also available every day at stores. Visit www.petsmartcharities.org for more information.