For over 55 years, Petco has been committed to improving the lives of pets, pet parents and our own Petco partners. Since our founding in 1965, we've been trailblazing new standards in pet care, delivering comprehensive wellness solutions through our products and services, and creating communities that deepen the pet-pet parent bond.
Petco's top priority is always the health and well-being of animals. We have high standards for animal health and welfare, both in our stores and throughout our entire company. These standards were developed, and are continually updated, under the supervision of our own veterinary staff, with counsel from a panel of independent experts in animal care, behavior and ethics.
We're committed to helping pets live long, healthy and happy lives. We've demonstrated that commitment through a long history of making decisions and changes to our policies and practices in order to do what's best for animals.
The Petco family is made up of pet lovers who are passionate about animals. Each store works with a designated veterinarian partner in their community and all store partners must successfully complete ongoing required training and examinations before working with animals in our stores.
While at work, they adhere to stringent animal care policies, procedures and veterinary-approved guidelines to ensure animals feel loved, happy, comfortable and secure at all times.
MEDIA CONTACTS
Ventura Olvera, (858) 453-7845 x222820 or ventura.olvera@petco.com
Yvonne Tarrab, (858) 453-7845 x223256 or yvonne.tarrab@petco.com
ETHICAL VENDOR STANDARDS:
Petco continues to be a leader in ethical vendor standards for animals, including requiring all Petco live animal vendors to participate in the Petco Vendor Certification and Standards of Excellence Program. As part of this program, all vendors are inspected and must pass a rigorous certification process.
WE CHOOSE AQUACULTURED:
Whenever possible, Petco sources aquatic life that is aquacultured— born, bred and raised in an aquarium environment—rather than taken from the oceans. More than 95 percent of the aquatic life we offer, including all of our freshwater fish and corals, is aquacultured.
AMERICAN HUMANE CERTIFICATION:
In 2022, Petco became the first pet retailer in history to be awarded the coveted American Humane CertifiedTM seal of approval. Further advancing our long-standing standards for animal care, we proactively invited American Humane to conduct independent on-site audits and observations of the behavior of, as well as the veterinary care, habitats, nutrition and safety provided to the pets and aquatic life in our care. Following rigorous independent audits of Petco locations and vendor facilities American Humane – the largest certifier of animal welfare – certified the pets enjoy excellent attention at every step of their journey to their new families.
POSITIVE TRAINING METHODS:
Petco offers Positive Dog Training classes focused on promoting a relationship of mutual respect and trust between pets and pet parents. Our classes use positive, voluntary and reward- based training methods to teach pet parents how our dogs think, learn and communicate, and how to encourage appropriate behavior for the real world.
THINK ADOPTION FIRST:
We follow and promote a Think Adoption First philosophy, which strongly encourages prospective pet parents to consider adopting a homeless animal whenever possible. We work with thousands of local animal welfare organizations to offer dogs, cats and other companion animals for adoption in our stores.
