Landmark Seven Millionth Adoption Marks New PetSmart Milestone, Celebration of Pets’ “People-Saving” Power

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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.

PetSmart achieves this milestone together with the 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, according to company representatives.

“Daisy’s adoption is an enormous milestone,” said Eran Cohen, a chief customer experience officer at PetSmart. “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,”

“Daisy was transported from the South to New York to have a better shot at being adopted,” Cohen continued. “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. 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).

“I found Polly when I did because she has a higher calling in life,” Ed said.

Chica and Bruce’s New Normal

After losing his beloved wife to cancer, and his dog, Taco, to a heart condition just months later, Bruce thought he’d never adopt again. But he fell in love with and adopted Chica, a little Chihuahua. 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 he could finish 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. Two months later, she also lost 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 and grandson, who picked out “Harvey” and named him “Pete,” after 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.

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.

The next PetSmart Charities National Adoption Weekend takes place at local PetSmart stores this coming weekend, September 16 to 18, 9am to 9pm. 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, with more than 25,000 and 24,000 pets adopted, respectively.

Original press release and story obtained from BusinessWire.