Petco Love Celebrates Holidays by Investing $15M in Animal Welfare Partnerships

Listen to this article

Press release: Petco Love

National nonprofit Petco Love is spreading the joy this holiday season by investing $15 million in more than 550 animal shelter and rescue partners across the United States. Believing that “love changes everything,” the goal is to save pet lives and make communities and pet families closer, stronger and healthier.

Petco Love empowers more than 4,000 animal welfare partners and invests in organizations to amplify lifesaving efforts. From thousands of adoptions in Petco Pet Care Centers to distributing more than one million free vaccines to family pets, Petco Love and partner organizations grow their lifesaving impact year after year – changing even more lives than before.

One of the recipients of Petco Love’s investment is Kansas City Pet Project. Over a decade ago, the former Missouri shelter was euthanizing about 70 percent of the pets in care. Petco Love believed wholeheartedly in KC Pet Project’s mission to change and offered support. “We remember what it was like in 2012 when we started and nobody believed in us, but Petco Love did,” said Tori Fugate with KC Pet Project. Now, as the exclusive adoption partner for all 11 Petco Pet Care Center locations in the Kansas City metropolitan area, 50 percent of all cat adoptions occur there. Petco Love’s upcoming $500,000 lifesaving grant continues its longstanding commitment to KC Pet Project with $2 million in total funding during the past decade.

Another organization and longtime Petco Love partner is Montgomery County Animal Services in Conroe, a suburb of Houston, Texas. In 2015, Montgomery County struggled, saving less than 80 percent of pets in care. Today, the organization saves 95 percent and helps other shelters do the same.

“From our first grant investment, all the way to now, we just wouldn’t be as far along without Petco Love,” said Aaron Johnson with Montgomery County Animal Services. To continue their lifesaving efforts, the longtime partner is receiving a $450,000 grant from Petco Love.

“Our partner organizations continuously show us how love changes everything. The change they inspire in their communities and beyond is truly lifesaving,” said Susanne Kogut, president of Petco Love. “Petco Love partners with 4,000 organizations doing incredible work in so many different ways across the country, in small towns and big cities, all with the same goal – to save pet lives.”

Another Petco Love partner, Tupelo Lee Humane Society in Mississippi, increased pet adoption and also distributed lifesaving vaccines to family pets in their community, substantially decreasing preventable diseases. The organization is receiving a lifesaving grant of $125,000 for their dedicated efforts within their local community.

In conjunction with their partner organizations in 2022, Petco Love hosted several large scale adoption events across the country and achieved its goal of distributing one million free pet vaccines to stop deadly and preventable diseases. With a commitment to another one million free vaccines and more adoption events planned in the new year, Petco Love is committed to helping more pets in need. During this Season of Giving, and always, donations made at the registers at Petco Pet Care Centers to Petco Love are invested in animal welfare organizations changing their communities.