(Feb. 15, 2025) – Cat Adoption Team (CAT) was surprised with a $25,000 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.
Wesleigh Ogle, pictured here with her adopted cat Sylvia, submitted her Petco Love Story about how falling in love with her first cat changed her life. Each year, Petco Love invites adopters to share how their pets have impacted 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 to support the vital work of these organizations in facilitating life-changing pet adoptions.
One of this year’s winners was the story of Wesleigh and her cat Sylvia, adopted through Cat Adoption Team in Sherwood, Oregon in 2016. Tapping into her skills in video production, Wesleigh submitted the love story through her social media account as a video story that drew Petco Love’s attention.
“My family always had dogs and I was convinced I didn’t like cats, until I met Sylvia,” Wesleigh shares. “As a first-time cat owner— and never having a pet by myself— there was a lot I didn’t know. The team at CAT made the adoption process so easy, making sure I had all the information, supplies and support that I needed, even checking in periodically after I brought her home.”
It was through adopting Sylvia and becoming familiar with the community of cat-lovers that Wesleigh was inspired to get more involved in the CAT’s mission. Wesleigh volunteered her time to emcee a number of Cat Adoption Team’s annual fundraiser galas, helping to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for CAT’s lifesaving work.
“Wesleigh and Sylvia’s love story is a beautiful one,” said Karen Green, CAT’s executive director. “By sharing that story, Wesleigh has brought funds to CAT that will help other cats and kittens looking for their own happy ‘tails.’ We’re so grateful for partners like Wesleigh and Petco Love.”
Every year, Petco Love, in partnership with BOBS® from Skechers®, celebrates the life changing impact of pet adoption and empowers animal welfare organizations to continue saving more pet lives by acknowledging their hard work with a lifesaving grant award.
Since 2013, more than 25,000 adopters have shared their Love Story, and Petco Love has awarded $8 million in lifesaving grants to the animal welfare organizations that make these adoptions possible.
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.
