Nonprofit Petco Love, Petco, and Animal Welfare Partners Urge Pet Parents to Vaccinate Their Pets AND Keep Up to Date on Their Lifesaving Vaccinations

SAN ANTONIO, TX – Today, Petco Love, a life-changing nonprofit organization, is urging pet parents to vaccinate their pets and stay up to date with their vaccines at their veterinarian or local clinics during this National Pet Vaccination Month, in an effort to keep community pets healthy and help stop the spread of deadly, yet preventable diseases in dogs and cats.

Spring is commonly known as “puppy and kitten season” and during this time the potential exposure for pets to deadly and contagious diseases and viruses is especially high. During March’s National Pet Vaccination Month, and ahead of the busy summer months, Petco Love is targeting high-impact areas across the U.S. where deadly pet diseases like parvovirus and distemper in dogs, and panleukopenia in cats, are prevalent.

“Keeping up with your pet’s vaccinations can make all the difference in their overall health, wellness, and safety against potentially deadly diseases,” said Dr. Whitney Miller, DVM, MBA, DACVPM, Petco’s Chief Veterinarian and Petco Love Advisor. “No pet parent can stand to see their pet suffer from an illness that could have easily been prevented, and that’s why we strongly recommend preventative vaccines for pets, which are absolutely lifesaving.”

Through its Vaccinated and Loved campaign, Petco Love encourages animal welfare partners to host free vaccine clinics. Petco Love surveyed pet parents¹ attending these free clinics to assess whether the initiative is meeting its goal to reach pets most in need. Despite veterinarian recommendations requiring periodic vaccinations for diseases, surveyed pet parents indicated only 37% of pets were previously vaccinated, and 42% had never seen a private vet.

“Our survey results indicate that some pets would go without vaccines if these free clinics weren’t available to pet parents. The data shows us access to free pet vaccinations is crucial for many families and saves pets lives,” said Petco Love President Susanne Kogut. “We see these free vaccine clinics making a huge difference in communities, where pet parents don’t have to decide whether or not they can afford vaccinations to keep their pets healthy.”

“Protecting them means everything to me,” said pet parent Wes, while attending the Charleston Animal Society’s “Vax-A-Palooza” event in Charleston, South Carolina last month with his three dogs. Wes’ dogs were among 1,861 pets who received free vaccines there, thanks to Petco Love. The animal shelter and Petco Love partner even broke a Guinness World Record at the event for the most pledges from pet owners to keep their furry friends vaccinated against deadly diseases. Also in Texas, Petco Love teamed up with the City of Brownsville in December 2022 for another world-record breaking attempt during a free pet clinic. Organizers accomplished setting a world record for the “Most Pledges Received for a Vaccination Campaign in 24 hours.”

Through its Vaccinated and Loved campaign, Petco Love also continues its goal to distribute another one million free pet vaccines to partner organizations in communities across the U.S. for pets whose pet parents face difficult financial times. The campaign marked a significant milestone in September 2022, when Petco Love reached its one-millionth free pet vaccine distribution for family pets AND committed to another one million free pet vaccines. Since that milestone, Petco Love has distributed an additional 380,000 free pet vaccines to its partners, bringing the total number of free pet vaccines distributed as part of its Vaccinated and Loved initiative to more than (1.3) million and counting.

Pet parents in need of free pet vaccinations can visit freepetvaccines.org to find a participating clinic. Some clinics may permit advance registration and provide additional offerings such as discounted microchips and rabies vaccines, although quantities may be limited. Vaccines distributed under this initiative are DAPPv Canine and HCP Feline vaccines. To learn more about Petco Love, visit petcolove.org.

Petco Health and Wellness Company, Inc. is also reminding pet parents about the importance of vaccinating their beloved pets. Pet parents can get and stay up to date on all recommended vaccines for dogs and cats at more than 200 Vetco Total Care full-service hospitals conveniently located inside Petco pet care centers, or at Vetco Vaccination Clinics regularly held at more than 1,200 Petco pet care centers and select Lowe’s locations.

[1] Petco Love surveyed pet parents attending these free clinics across 38 states. The respondents answered three primary questions: whether (including the reasons for) their pet had visited a private vet office; whether they had previously received the offered vaccines, and whether a pet in their household had ever been diagnosed with these diseases. Regions were determined in accordance with U.S. census designations. Petco Love plans to continue these surveys with the intention of publishing a white paper with detailed survey results.

###

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 $330 million in adoption and other lifesaving efforts. We’ve helped find loving homes for more than 6.5 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. Is love calling you? Join us. Visit petcolove.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn to be part of the lifesaving work we lead every day.