Photo courtesy Petco foundation
Texas Border Business
National Foster Hero Celebrated During Foster a Pet Month
Edinburg, TX (6/15/2020) – Rita Phelps, foster volunteer at Palm Valley Animal Society (PVAS), has been recognized as one of 22 National Foster Heroes by the Petco Foundation and Skechers’ charity footwear collection, BOBS from Skechers in celebration of National Foster a Pet Month in June.
Rita has been a foster for 70 animals at Palm Valley Animal Society (PVAS). She has fostered 68 kittens and cats, and 2 dogs, one whom she adopted. She hasn’t shied away from medical issues but met them with care and love. With a caring touch, Rita has nursed numerous neonatal kittens and cats suffering from upper respiratory and other medical complications.
“When COVID-19 rattled our world, it started a movement in animal welfare helping us to reimagine how we were housing animals in need,” said Donna Casamento, executive director of PVAS. “Over 150 families in the Rio Grande Valley opened their doors to foster pets offering a safe place to over 300 pets who are currently in foster homes, enjoying time with families, and learning what life is like outside of a kennel. Fostering truly saves lives, and now the PVAS Foster Program is taking our program to the next level.”
For stepping up and saving animals’ lives in the Rio Grande Valley, Rita will receive a prize pack including BOBS from Skechers shoes and their incredible lifesaving work will be honored along with their National Foster Hero peers on petcofoundation.org/foster.
“It is an honor to recognize the Foster Heroes who are making a difference in their communities and demonstrating the lifesaving impact of fostering pets,” said Susanne Kogut, president of the Petco Foundation. “During the response to the COVID-19 crisis, we saw a significant spike in the number of people fostering pets. Our goal is to continue this trend, inspire more people to join the pet fostering movement and make pets sheltering in foster homes, versus animal shelters, the new normal. Because, if less than 2% of pet-owning households in the U.S. fostered one pet a year, we could eliminate unnecessary euthanasia in animal shelters tomorrow.”
National Foster a Pet Month is part of the Petco Foundation’s Pledge to Save Pet Lives which encourages animal lovers to adopt, foster, volunteer and/or donate this summer with a goal of inspiring 1.5 million pledges to match the approximate number of pets unnecessarily euthanized in shelters each year in the U.S.
In addition to mobilizing the animal-loving public to help local animal welfare organizations save lives through the COVID-19 crisis, the Petco Foundation’s Pledge to Save Pet Lives included $1M in emergency product and cash donations to animal shelters. This commitment follows the Petco Foundation’s recent distribution of more than $13M to animal welfare organizations nationwide.
To learn more about PVAS and how you can help, visit pvastx.org. For more on the Petco Foundation and to take the Pledge to Save Pet Lives, visit petcofoundation.org/pledge and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
About Palm Valley Animal Society
Our mission: Palm Valley Animal Society will provide lifesaving care, comfort, and compassion to animals in need by engaging the hearts, hands, and minds of our community. PVAS’ goal is to save every animal that can be saved through progressive adoption, foster care, and rescue transfer programs. PVAS offers a number of additional programs designed to help pets in the shelter, in the community, and in your home, including volunteer, fee-reduction, and veterinary services programs. Stay connected: Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter: @PVASTX
About the Petco Foundation and BOBS from Skechers
At the Petco Foundation, we believe that every animal deserves to live its best life. Since 1999, we’ve invested more than $260 million in lifesaving work to make that happen. With our more than 4,000 animal welfare partners, we inspire and empower communities to make a difference by investing in adoption and medical care programs, spay and neuter services, pet cancer research, service and therapy animals, and numerous other lifesaving initiatives. Through our Think Adoption First program, we partner with Petco stores and animal welfare organizations across the country to increase pet adoption. So far, we’ve helped more than 6.5 million pets find their new loving families, and we’re just getting started. Visit petcofoundation.org to learn more about how you can get involved.
BOBS from Skechers’ charitable collection of footwear, apparel and accessories have improved animals’ lives. Over the past three years, Skechers has contributed more than $5.45 million to help more than one million shelter pets, including saving more than 661,000 rescued pets in the United States. To learn more about BOBS from Skechers’ commitment to making a difference and its partnership with the Petco Foundation, visit www.BOBSfromSkechers.com and follow the brand
