There is at least one thing about me that fits perfectly into the Millennial mold. I absolutely love when companies give back to causes I care personally about. What’s one of the biggest causes that tugs on my heart strings you ask? Animal welfare, of course!
When PetSmart® announced on Monday of this week that they would be launching a new program known as “Buy a Bag, Give a Meal™” to help out pets in need, I was all ears!
This post is sponsored by PetSmart® and the BlogPaws™ Pet Influencer Network™. I am being compensated to help share about the new Buy a Bag, Give a Meal™ program at PetSmart, but we only share information we feel is relevant to our readers. PetSmart is not responsible for the content of this article.
PetSmart® “Buy a Bag, Give a Meal™” Program
The new “Buy a Bag, Give a Meal” program will donate a meal to a pet in need for every bag of dog or cat food purchased online or at any of the 1,500-plus retail stores across the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico. The program runs from March 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017. That’s 10 months of donating meals! No wonder PetSmart expects to donate more than 60 million meals!
PetSmart will be working closely with their nonprofit legs, PetSmart Charities® and PetSmart Charities™ of Canada, on this amazing philanthropic effort just like in previous years. But unlike the past, “Buy a Bag, Give a Meal” is PetSmart’s LARGEST philanthropic effort EVER and it’s PetSmart’s way of celebrating their 30th anniversary!
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How Do I Help Pets in Need?
Just keep doing what you are already doing as a pet parent – buying dog or cat food! Just make sure it is from a PetSmart retail store or from PetSmart.com.
PetSmart has committed to donating a 5 oz dog food meal or a 1.5 oz cat food meal for every bag of dog and cat food purchased. This includes purchases of all brands of food and all bag sizes made at every single retail store or online!
What is PetSmart Charities®?
PetSmart Charities is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to animal welfare. The mission of the organization is to find lifelong, loving homes for all pets and they do this by supporting programs and though leadership that bring people and pets together. PetSmart Charities works to find homes for nearly 500,000 shelter pets each year through in-store adoption events across the US. In fact, PetSmart Charities invites more than 3,000 animal shelters and rescues to bring adoptable pets into their retail stores. Overall, PetSmart has facilitated more than 7.3 million pet adoptions!
PetSmart Charities also provides funding to other animal welfare nonprofits aligned with its mission through four key areas of grant support: Preventing Pet Homelessness, Helping Shelter Pets Thrive, Supporting the Bond Between People and Pets, and Emergency Relief and Disaster Support. To date, PetSmart Charities has donated about $300 million. PetSmart also raises funds by allowing millions of generous PetSmart shoppers to donate to help pets in need via the pin pads at checkout registers inside PetSmart stores.
The Impact of Giving Back
A recent PetSmart Charities survey found that of its 1,800 animal welfare partners across North America, only 20% receive regular pet food donations and only a small 8% have a contract with a pet food brand to receive subsidized pet food. That means have funds to feed all the pets these shelters and rescues save does not come easy!
In fact, according to David Haworth, DVM, Ph.D., president of PetSmart Charities, almost 7 million pets enter shelters every year across North America. While these pets await finding their forever homes, they need access to pet food, which makes pet food a significant operating expense for most animal welfare organizations.
Through the “Buy a Bag, Give a Meal”, PetSmart hopes to lessen the burden on animal shelters and rescues of affording adequate meals for pets waiting adoption. The goal is to free up precious resources at these animal welfare organizations, so they can continue doing the amazing life-saving work they are currently doing.
All pets in need are not found in shelters however. Many live with families who rely on food banks and pantries for their own meals. It’s rare to see a food bank that is stocked with pet food, so some individuals and families give up parts or all of their own meals to feed their pets. PetSmart also hopes to deliver pet food to food banks and pantries through this program to help ensure that both pets and their humans are fed.
Learn more about PetSmart Charities and the new “Buy a Bag, Give a Meal” program, by reading the PetSmart press release found here.
For even more information, follow PetSmart on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
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Tell us what you think about PetSmart’s “Buy a Bag, Give a Meal” program in the comments below!
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