San Diego Humane Society to receive $50k grant from Petco

Happy hippo: Hannah Shirley, the Humane Society’s pygmy hippopotamus. (File photo courtesy SDHS) San Diego-based Petco’s nonprofit wing is set to grant $50,000 to the San Diego Humane Society to support the organization’s lifesaving work for pets, it was announced Wednesday. Petco Love, the national nonprofit founded in 1999, has invested more than $420 million to pet adoption and lifesaving efforts across the country, officials said. “Our investment in San Diego Humane Society is part of more than $12 million in investments recently announced by Petco Love to power local organizations across the country as part of our commitment to create a future in which no pet is unnecessarily euthanized,” said Susanne Kogut, president of Petco Love. “Our local investments are only part of our strategy to empower animal lovers to drive lifesaving change right alongside us.” Last year, the national nonprofit started Petco Love Lost, a free national lost and found database that uses photo-matching technology to simplify the search for lost pets. “San Diego County has remained at zero euthanasia of healthy or treatable shelter pets since 2015 — but it truly takes a village to keep us there,” said Dr. Gary Weitzman, president and chief executive officer of the San Diego Humane Society. “We’re incredibly grateful to Petco Love for their ongoing support of the 30,000 pets who rely on San Diego Humane Society every year.”