Spring has almost sprung and it’s one of my favorite times of the year – PetSmart Charities National Adoption Week is March 6-12! And this one is especially meaningful to me.
Thanks to you, our partners, PetSmart stores across the U.S. and Canada will be buzzing with thousands of adoptable pets and for this special week, we are focused on raising awareness for pets with special needs!
As I mentioned in the partner summit (and if you missed it, please, check it out here!) many shelters across North America are at or over capacity. According to Shelter Animal Count, 4% more animals entered shelters in the U.S. than left in 2022, up from 2% in 2021, making for the largest gap in the past four years. We know you’re heroically caring for vulnerable pets in need until they find their own families to adore, and we hope that National Adoption Week brings even more visibility to the deserving animals in your care.
Did you know: In-store adoption numbers increase by 150-200% during National Adoption Weeks?
While the number of animals entering shelters has continued to slightly increase each year since the pandemic, it’s still 16% fewer in the U.S. than 2019. So, while stories of surrendered pandemic puppies might dominate the news, the data tells a different story. There are fewer animals making way to shelters today than pre-pandemic levels, but they’re staying longer. And we know that those with special needs tend to wait the longest. But they also have special talents, special gifts and special love to share!
This year, PetSmart Charities is encouraging people to do their part to help shelters, rescues and animal welfare organizations and adopt a pet, and especially to consider those with special needs. If you’re currently caring for any, we encourage you to bring them to the in-store events. You can imagine as the director of pet placement I meet scores of shelter pets every week. I have to fight my urges to take so many of them home! But when I met a gorgeous, sweet six-year-old Great Dane at the Arizona Animal Welfare League, my heart went out to him. He’s deaf and blind, and I could tell even then he’s also incredibly smart, resilient, and full of a special kind of love.
Because our home already includes a dog with special needs who has been through so much, I didn’t imagine we’d take on another. I reached out to a friend I thought might be interested in meeting this truly “GREAT” Dane. But then, when my partner met him, he fell head over heels in love, too. We took our new family member, Gatsby, home and did our homework by getting to know him. We also learned about the kinds of accommodations we could make (and innovate) to make him feel comfortable in his new home. We were thrilled that he and our dog, Kemper, got on famously, so that was a good start.
Gatsby has brought a special kind of joy to our home and to our hearts, and of course, to my role at PetSmart Charities and PetSmart Charities of Canada. We know you’ll be working hard to take adoptable pets to local PetSmart stores all over the country during National Adoption Week. They make the perfect spot for so many potential pet parents to meet their new best friends and fur babies. You can feel the warmth and excitement just walking into the stores with the energy of wagging tails and opportunities for cuddles. I encourage you and your staff or volunteers to coach and encourage potential pet parents to consider the joy of adopting a pet with special needs. I know you know it, too — they pay you back with a special kind of love.
Connect with Heidi Marston on LinkedIn, or with Gatsby on Instagram.
