Submit Your Heartwarming Pet Adoption Stories through September 30th

SAN ANTONIO, Sept. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- National nonprofit Petco Love, in partnership with BOBS® from Skechers®, is thrilled to announce the launch of the 2024 Petco Love Stories campaign. Pet adopters across the nation are invited to share their inspiring stories of how their adopted pets have transformed their lives for the better.

The Petco Love Stories campaign is a celebration of the unique love adopted pets share with us and the meaningful ways their love changes our lives. By sharing these heartfelt stories, pet parents can not only highlight the joy and companionship their adopted pets bring but also support their local animal welfare organizations. Winning Love Stories will earn significant grants for the shelters and rescues where the pets were adopted, thanks to Petco Love and BOBS® from Skechers®. Earlier this year, Petco Love and BOBS® from Skechers® awarded over $500,000 to animal welfare partners across the country in celebration of the 2023 Petco Love Stories winners.

Through this campaign, Petco Love and BOBS® from Skechers® are celebrating the unique ways adopted pets change our lives for the better, inspiring more pet adoptions and empowering animal welfare organizations to save more pet lives. This year's campaign introduces new submission formats to engage even more pet lovers. Participants can submit their Love Story in written form and/or share a link to a public-facing social media video. This new format allows adopters to creatively express the unique ways their pets have impacted their lives.

Some Love Stories entries this year show the impact pets have on students who leave home for the first time for college, and their families coping with their absence. When Ali went to school, she left behind her home full of loved ones and beloved dogs. Wanting a companion, she visited adoptable cats at Petco Love partner, BARCS, in Baltimore. There she met her new best friend, Maia. "We really grew up together. This cat saw me through college by loving homework time, no paper left un-sat on and no pen left un-chewed. She was the one consistent force that slept on my head and reassured me of her love every single day. Her presence always brought me back home."

Students aren't the only ones that get the back-to-school blues. As a mother of an only child, Monica had a difficult time when her daughter left for college. She decided to foster a dog, Bo, from Petco Love partner, Paws to Care in Tennessee, and soon realized he was part of her family. "As a mom, our life often revolves around our children and when they leave, we often lose our sense of purpose. Bo gave me that purpose and so much more. True genuine happiness came from my four-legged friend. I can't imagine my life without him."

"Every pet adoption story highlights the incredible impact of love and companionship," said Susanne Kogut, President of Petco Love. "Through Petco Love Stories, we aim to honor these exceptional bonds and inspire more individuals to welcome shelter pets into their lives."

"BOBS from Skechers is about looking good, feeling good and doing good—and through donations from sales of BOBS, more than two million dogs and cats have found homes and received care," said Michael Greenberg, president of Skechers. "Petco Love Stories is just another example of how people across the United States can make a difference and help thousands of animals."

Among last year's winners were 10-year-old Brynn and her dog Biggie, whose story touched hearts nationwide. Brynn adopted Biggie from a local shelter, and their bond has grown immeasurably since. Biggie, once a shy and anxious dog, has become Brynn's constant companion, providing unwavering support and joy. Their story earned a $100,000 grant for Three Little Pitties Rescue, highlighting the profound impact of pet adoption and the incredible transformation that love can bring.

Petco Love invites you to share how your adopted pet's unique love has changed your life for the better for a chance to earn up to $100,000 in life-saving investments for your animal welfare organization, which gives more adopted pets a chance to share their love. Submissions for Petco Love Stories are open to individuals ages 18 and older, or those with parental consent. In 500 words or less, participants can share their Love Story along with photos or videos of their adopted pet. Submissions close at 11:59 p.m. (CT) on September 30, 2024. Your Love Story can be submitted as a written story or a public-facing social media video, or by using both formats. Every adopter is asked to submit their Love Story via the submission form you can find here, whether it's written or a social media video.

Since 2013, more than 25,000 adopters have shared their stories through the Petco Love Stories campaign, with $8 million in grants awarded to animal welfare organizations across the country. These stories highlight the many ways pets adopted from shelters enrich our lives and underscore the importance of pet adoption.

Media Contacts: 
Crystal Bugary, Petco Love, media@petcolove.org 
Alison Brod Marketing + Communications, petcolove@abmc-us.com   

About Petco Love
Petco Love is a life-changing nonprofit organization that makes communities and pet families closer, stronger, and healthier. Since our founding in 1999 as the Petco Foundation, we've empowered animal welfare organizations by investing nearly $400 million in adoption and other lifesaving efforts. We've helped find loving homes for more than 6.9 million pets in partnership with Petco and organizations nationwide. Our love for pets drives us to lead with innovation, creating tools animal lovers need to reunite lost pets, and lead with passion, inspiring and mobilizing communities and our more than 4,000 animal welfare partners to drive lifesaving change alongside us.  Join us. Visit petcolove.org or follow on Facebook, Instagram, X, and LinkedIn to be part of the lifesaving work we lead every day.

About SKECHERS U.S.A., Inc.
Skechers, The Comfort Technology Company® based in Southern California, designs, develops and markets a diverse range of lifestyle and performance footwear, apparel and accessories for men, women and children. The Company's collections are available in 180 countries and territories through department and specialty stores, and direct to consumers through skechers.com and approximately 5,200 Skechers retail stores. A Fortune 500® company, Skechers manages its international business through a network of wholly-owned subsidiaries, joint venture partners, and distributors. For more information, please visit about.skechers.com and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. 

About BOBS^® from Skechers^®
BOBS from Skechers' charitable collection of shoes, apparel and accessories have improved animals' lives: over the past eight years, Skechers has contributed more than $11 million to help over 2 million shelter pets, including saving more than 1.6 million rescued animals in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Japan. It all started in 2011, when Skechers launched a movement to support children impacted by natural disasters and poverty—a cause that has helped the Company donate more than 16 million new pairs of shoes to kids in more than 60 countries worldwide. To learn more about BOBS from Skechers' commitment to making a difference, visit BOBSfromSkechers.com and follow the brand on Facebook and Instagram.

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SOURCE Petco Love