Invites Volunteers in Flowery Branch to Help Homeless Animals

Atlanta, Ga. (February 21, 2008) - Furkids, the nonprofit organization that maintains the largest cage-free, no kill animal shelter in Georgia, and PetSmart, the largest specialty retailer of services and solutions for the lifetime needs of pets, are expanding their relationship. PetSmart has invited Furkids to take over management of the adoption center at its new retail store at 5873 Spout Springs Road (located off 985 at exit 12) in Flowery Branch, Georgia.

To help address pet overpopulation, PetSmart does not sell cats or dogs in stores. Instead, it advances pet adoptions through partnerships with more than 3,400 local animal welfare organizations throughout North America.

Flowery Branch is the fifth PetSmart store where Furkids manages the adoption program. Furkids began its partnership with PetSmart at the Perimeter location, later adding the Smyrna and Midtown locations. And in 2007, Furkids took over the Northlake facility in Tucker. Each facility can temporarily house between 10 and 18 homeless cats. Furkids volunteers work at each facility, caring for and playing with the animals. The cats stay at each facility until they are adopted, or for about four weeks. Cats that are not adopted return to the Furkids shelter in Gwinnett County, a facility with large, brightly-painted open rooms or a foster home.

"Furkids is one of our most successful partnerships in metro Atlanta," said [an associate] of the new PetSmart Flowery Branch facility. "We always can count on Furkids to run a highly professional program, combining dedicated volunteers, healthy animals and a careful matching process that successfully places homeless animals into appropriate and loving homes."

PetSmart donates space in its stores for the PetSmart Charities' Adoption Centers. Nationwide, the retailer has matched almost 3.2 million homeless animals with new owners.

"PetSmart is providing invaluable support to Furkids," said founder and executive director Samantha Shelton. "Furkids has some 400 cats and dogs available for adoption, and while our Web site (www.furkids.org) provides profiles of the animals, PetSmart provides an easy opportunity to bring animal lovers nose-to-nose with homeless animals that need permanent homes."

By having a fifth PetSmart location, Furkids also will open its program to volunteers in the Flowery Branch area. "This will give community members who are interested in helping homeless animals an opportunity to get to know Furkids and volunteer in our program," Ms. Shelton said. "If you live near Flowery Branch, love animals and want to help match homeless animals with the right families, go to www.furkids.org and click on the "volunteer" tab.

In addition to its shelter and the five PetSmart locations, Furkids maintains a small network of foster families who keep homeless dogs and cats until they can be adopted into permanent homes.

The Furkids mission is to provide a safe haven for abandoned cats and some dogs until they are adopted into loving, lifelong homes; and to educate people about the value of pets, animal welfare, pet overpopulation and the benefits of human-animal companionship.

Furkids, a registered 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization, was founded in 2002 when Ms. Shelton found a mother cat depositing three newborn kittens in her back yard. What began simply as a quest to find shelter for four cats in a place where they wouldn't be euthanized has grown into a nonprofit organization that operates the largest cage-free, no kill shelter in Georgia. In 2007, Furkids rescued more than 800 homeless animals and placed more than 600 animals into new, loving homes. Since 2002, Furkids has saved over 3,000 animals. More information is available at www.furkids.org.

PetSmart operates more than 993 pet stores in the United States and Canada, a growing number of in-store PetsHotels cat and dog boarding facilities and Doggie Day Camps, and is a leading online provider of pet supplies and pet care information. PetSmart provides a broad range of competitively priced pet food and pet supplies; offers complete pet training, pet grooming and pet adoption services.

# # #

Sign up to Volunteer at our new Flowery Branch PetSmart location!