Petco Love Stories celebrates — and returns — the love that we share with our pets.
Since 2013, more than 20,000 adopters have shared how pets have changed their lives, and Petco Love has awarded nearly $7 million in grants to the animal welfare organizations that make these adoption matches possible.
Past Love Stories Winners
Previous Winning Stories
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2020 Winners (Click to Expand)
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2019 Winners (Click to Expand)
Volunteers for Muskegon County Animal Control: Pound Buddies Rescue
$1,000 winner
Submitted by: Angela
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2018 Winners (Click to Expand)
Montgomery County Animal Care and Adoption Center
$5,000 winner
$25,000 People's ChoiceSubmitted by: Marilyn
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2017 Winners (Click to Expand)
FRONT STREET ANIMAL SHELTER
$100,000 winner
$10,000 People's Choice WinnerSubmitted by: Teresa Howell
UPPER PENINSULA ANIMAL WELFARE SOCIETY
$50,000 winner
$10,000 People's Choice WinnerSubmitted by: Kim Randolph
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2016 Winners (Click to Expand)
barcs - baltimore animal rescue and care shelter
$5,000 and People's Choice winner
Submitted by: Claire Giambi
golden beginnings golden retriever rescue
$25,000 and People's Choice winner
Submitted by: Katherine Scardasis
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH BOBS FROM SKECHERS
Join Petco Love and BOBS from Skechers in saving animal lives across the U.S. When you purchase BOBS from Skechers, a donation is made to Petco Love to help shelters save animal lives nationwide.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Q: WHO CAN SUBMIT A STORY?
Animal welfare organizations can submit up to TWO Love Stories on behalf of any person over the age of 18 (or under the age of 18 with parental/guardian consent). The story must feature an adopted pet from a U.S. based organization and the pet must be currently living.
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Q: WHAT QUALIFIES AS AN ANIMAL WELFARE ORGANIZATION?
Organizations include municipal or government animal shelters and nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations such as humane societies, SPCAs and foster-based rescues.
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Q: WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR A NOMINATED ANIMAL WELFARE ORGANIZATION TO RECEIVE A LOVE STORIES GRANT AWARD?
Petco Love grants funds to qualified, U.S. based animal welfare organizations. To be eligible to receive a Love Stories grant award, nominated organizations must complete their 2021 Annual Data Report in the Petco Love Partner Portal, and if applicable, be enrolled as at Petco Love Lost partner.
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Q: I’M A SERVICE OR THERAPY ANIMAL ORGANIZATION WITH AN INCREDIBLE STORY. CAN WE ENTER A STORY?
If your organization pulled the pet featured in the story from an animal shelter and trained the service or therapy animal and made the match, you can be eligible to win a grant award.
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Q: HOW MANY LOVE STORIES CAN MY ORGANIZATION SUBMIT?
Your organization can submit up to TWO best Love Stories about how an adopted pet(s) has changed their adopter’s life.
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Q: WHEN CAN MY ORGANIZATION SUBMIT A STORY?
Animal welfare organizations can submit stories starting from 12 pm CST, August 31 unit 12 pm CST, November 14, 2022.
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Q: HOW MANY STORIES WILL YOU ACCEPT?
Due to the review requirements, we can only guarantee that the first 10,000 Love Stories will be fully reviewed and considered for the campaign.
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Q: WHAT SHOULD THE STORY BE ABOUT?
Your submitted Love Stories should demonstrate how the adopted pet has made an adopter’s life better, and should be a celebration of the love they share with their pet. Stories can range from the simplest things that bring joy to life every day to one-of-a-kind, extraordinary stories. Big or small, short-or long-haired, canine or feline, celebrate how the pet has significantly changed the adopter’s life for the better.
Telling a good story rather than simply reciting facts as they happened takes some thought (“What’s real the point I want to get across?”). And, compelling storytelling and supporting photos or videos will make your submission stand out from the rest. -
Q: CAN THE STORY BE ABOUT A PET THAT HAS PASSED AWAY?
At Petco Love, we deeply understand how a pet who is no longer with us may still have a lifechanging impact on adopter lives. However, for the Love Stories campaign, all story submissions must be written about a pet currently living.
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Q: I SUBMITTED A STORY LAST YEAR AS AN ADOPTER, BUT DID NOT WIN. CAN MY ORGANIZATION SUBMIT AGAIN?
Please share your story with your animal welfare organization. This year, we are accepting Love Stories submitted by animal welfare organizations, and not from the adopters directly.
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Q: MY STORY WON AN AWARD IN A PRIOR YEAR. CAN MY ORGANIZATION BE ELIGIBLE TO WIN AGAIN?
A: Stories about the same pet are not eligible to win; however, we encourage prior winners to share stories about other pets that were not featured in the original winning story with their animal welfare organization
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Q: CAN THE STORY BE ABOUT MORE THAN ONE PET?
Yes, your submitted story can include information about more than one pet but they must single out the name of one pet, as well as your animal welfare organization.
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Q: CAN PEOPLE MAKE CHANGES TO A LOVE STORY AFTER SUBMISSION?
No. Changes cannot be made once stories are submitted.
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Q: CAN PETCO LOVE EDIT MY STORY?
Yes, we reserve the right to edit all submitted stories for brevity and/or clarity before being published as a winning story. We also reserve the right to edit any submitted photos or videos with the story prior to publishing.
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Q: WHAT TYPES OF PETS CAN MY ORGANIZATION SUBMIT A LOVE STORY FOR?
Your organization can submit a story about any companion animal adopted from your facility.
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Q: WHAT TYPES OF PHOTOS SHOULD BE INCLUDED?
All story submissions should include at least four photos including one photo of the pet by themselves, and one photo of the adopter and their pet together. Additional photos can include pets with the whole family or a photo that further supports the story. The expression, “a photo is worth a thousand words” definitely applies during the Love Stories campaign. Great photos can tell powerful stories , so submit photos that express the essence of yours.
When creating file names for the photos in your submission, please use the name of the pet you are nominating as the photos’ file name (e.g. bella.jpg, bella2.jpg). Additionally, be sure to use high-resolution images. Most cell phone cameras are capable of taking great photos. Be sure to submit photos that are clear and of the highest quality possible. The system will accept most image file types including gif, jpeg, jpg and png.
Please do not submit photos that contain watermarks or text/graphics overlaid on the image. Collage images and/or images with added borders, etc., are not preferred.
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Q: CAN I INCLUDE VIDEO WITH THE STORY SUBMISSION?
Yes, while not mandatory, we do encourage you to submit a video to illustrate your story. A great video can help your submission stand out from the rest. For example, your video can include a 60 second clip looking into the camera and sharing additional details about how your pet has changed your life for the better. The system will accept video file types including AVI and MP4, and there is no limit to video length, although we recommend no more than five minutes. Please ensure that you have the license for any music and or photos included with your video. We reserve the right to edit your video.
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Q: HOW CAN MY ORGANIZATION ENCOURAGE ADOPTERS TO SHARE STORIES?
Download the Love Stories toolkit, which contains sample social media posts, a template email, a template press release, and more customizable marketing assets. You can offer assistance to your adopters by helping them take quality photos and/or video to support their stories and by reviewing their stories.
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Q: IS MY ORGANIZATION STILL ELIGIBLE IF WE RECEIVED A GRANT EARLIER THIS YEAR AND HAVE AN OPEN FOLLOW-UP REPORT?
Yes – your organization could be eligible. The Love Stories campaign does not fall under our normal grant cycle, so any outstanding grant follow-ups or applications will not impact eligibility for a grant.
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Q: CAN OUR ORGANIZATION HAVE MORE THAN ONE WINNING STORY?
Yes, it is possible that multiple entries could result in more than one grant award for your organization.
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Q: WHO WILL DECIDE WHICH ORGANIZATIONS ARE SELECTED TO RECEIVE LOVE STORIES GRANTS?
Petco Love will have a dedicated team responsible for reviewing submissions. Winners will be chosen based on the sole and absolute discretion of Petco Love.
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Q: WHAT ARE THE PRIZES FOR THE LOVE STORIES GRANT CAMPAIGN?
Petco Love will grant awards, ranging from $25,000 – $100,000, to winning animal welfare organizations. Total number of prizes will be revealed in February 2023.
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Q: I STILL NEED HELP. HOW CAN I GET IN CONTACT WITH YOU?
If you experience any issues that are not answered in these FAQs, please contact us at lovestories@petcolove.org.