November 21, 2018 – Phoenix, AZ
PetSmart Charities, the leading funder of animal welfare in North America, is committing up to $1 million in grant funding to support agencies working on the front lines to help pets and pet families affected by the wildfires burning across the state of California.
PetSmart Charities has distributed $50,000 to California-based animal welfare agencies who are responding to the wildfires. One recipient of these funds, the Little Angels Project, is already on the ground treating injuries such as broken bones, burned paws and smoke inhalation out of a mobile veterinary center. As wildfire relief and recovery efforts continue, PetSmart Charities knows there will be an ongoing need for funding to help animal welfare agencies rescue, feed, care for and reunite lost pets with their families.
“The damage from the most destructive wildfire season in California’s history has been catastrophic and our hearts go out to both the people and pets affected,” said David Haworth, DVM, Ph.D., president of PetSmart Charities. “We stand united with the state of California and PetSmart Charities continues to offer funding support to animal welfare agencies and nonprofits caring for displaced pets and pet families throughout the impacted areas.”
To apply for emergency relief grants, eligible organizations are encouraged to apply on the PetSmart Charities website: https://www.petsmartcharities.org/pro/grants/emergency-relief. Funding is available to national and local designated response agencies serving pets and pet parents; including nonprofit and municipal animal shelters, animal rescues, food banks and veterinary clinics.
When natural disasters strike, PetSmart Charities is committed to helping. So far in 2018, PetSmart Charities has granted over $860,000 to support Hurricane Florence and Hurricane Michael relief efforts. PetSmart Charities has reserved up to $1 million for the California Wildfire emergency relief effort, provided qualified applications for the total committed amount are received. For more information on PetSmart Charities, or to make a donation, please visit www.PetSmartCharities.org/donate.
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About PetSmart Charities®
PetSmart Charities, Inc. is committed to finding lifelong, loving homes for all pets by supporting programs and thought leadership that bring people and pets together. Through its in-store adoption program in all PetSmart® stores across the U.S. and Puerto Rico, PetSmart Charities helps to find forever homes and families for more than 500,000 shelter pets each year. PetSmart Charities also provides grant funding to nonprofits aligned with its mission under four key areas of support: Preventing Pet Homelessness; Helping Shelter Pets Thrive; Supporting the Bond Between People and Pets and Providing Emergency Relief and Disaster Support. Each year, millions of generous PetSmart shoppers help pets in need by donating to PetSmart Charities using the PIN pads at checkout registers inside PetSmart stores. In turn, PetSmart Charities efficiently uses more than 90 cents of every dollar donated to fulfill its role as the leading funder of animal welfare in North America, granting almost $340 million since its inception in 1994. Independent from PetSmart Inc., PetSmart Charities is a 501(c)(3) organization that has received the Four-Star Rating from Charity Navigator, a third-party organization that reports on the effectiveness, accountability and transparency of nonprofits, for the past 15 years in a row – placing it among the top one percent of charities rated by this organization. To learn more visit www.petsmartcharities.org.
Follow PetSmart Charities on Twitter: @PetSmartChariTs
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Contacts
PetSmart
Yosha Brunson, 623-587-2177
yobrunson[at]petsmart[dot]com
