(Feb. 12, 2024) – Cat Adoption Team (CAT) was surprised with a $10,000 grant check from Petco Love during a celebration at Petco earlier today, thanks to a Portland resident’s winning pet adoption story in the Petco Love Stories campaign.
Melanie, pictured here with her adopted cat Rumi, submitted her Petco Love Story about how adventuring outdoors with Rumi brings joy into their lives.Each year, Petco Love, in partnership with BOBS® from Skechers®, invites adopters to share how their pets have changed their lives for the better. This year’s campaign, celebrating a quarter-century of transformation and joy brought by pet adoption, awarded 25 grants totaling $500,000 to animal welfare organizations across the nation. These grants are a testament to the enduring commitment of Petco Love and BOBS® from Skechers® to support the vital work of these organizations in facilitating life-changing pet adoptions.
One of this year’s winners was the heartwarming story of Melanie and her cat Rumi, adopted through Cat Adoption Team in Sherwood, Oregon. According to Melanie’s Love Story, adventuring outdoors with Rumi, who is deaf, became a form of therapy for them both.
“I realized being deaf made [Rumi] fearless and confident in the forest, and filled him with endless joy,” Melanie said. “I love watching his playful kitten energy come out as he leaps from rock to rock, tightrope walks logs and flops down on the trail for a dirt bath. He brings giant smiles to anyone we pass on the trail, too! My depression and anxiety melt away when I’m with Rumi on an adventure!” To share their joy with others, Melanie posts about Rumi’s adventures on social media at instagram.com/rumi.roams.
“For the past 25 years, Petco Love Stories has spotlighted the incredible effects of pet adoption,” said Petco Love president, Susanne Kogut. “With the awarding of 25 grants this year, we’re not just celebrating milestones but also acknowledging the significant roles these pets play in enriching the lives of their adopters.”
“Stories like these highlight the love and joy that pets bring to our lives,” said Karen Green, CAT’s executive director. “We are grateful to Melanie for sharing her story to help CAT receive this lifesaving investment from Petco Love, which will help us give more cats and people the opportunity to find love.”
Since its inception in 1999, Petco Love Stories has shared over 25,000 adoption stories and donated an impressive $8 million to animal welfare organizations, directly impacting thousands of lives – both human and pet. With this year’s grants, Petco Love continues its commitment by recognizing and supporting these heartwarming stories of human-animal bonds.
To discover more about the winning stories and Petco Love’s remarkable work in pet adoption, please visit Petco Love Stories.
About Cat Adoption Team
Cat Adoption Team (CAT) is the Pacific Northwest’s largest cat-only animal shelter committed to finding a home for every cat we take in. Our mission is to save the lives of homeless cats and to work with our community to provide feline expertise and quality programs and services for people and cats. Since our founding in 1998, CAT has found loving homes for more than 60,000 cats and kittens, and provided thousands of low-cost spay/neuter surgeries and other services to the community. As a private nonprofit, CAT relies on the generous support of individuals and organizations. Learn more at catadoptionteam.org or find us on Facebook and Instagram.
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 $375 million in adoption and other lifesaving efforts. We’ve helped find loving homes for more than 6.75 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 U.S.A., Inc. (NYSE:SKX), a Fortune 500® 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. Collections from The Comfort Technology Company® are available in 180 countries and territories through department and specialty stores, and direct to consumers through digital stores and approximately 5,170 Company- and third-party-owned physical retail stores. The Company 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 $10.7 million to help over 2 million shelter pets, including saving more than 1.5 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.
