Young-Williams Animal Center celebrates $200,000 lifesaving investment from Petco Love

Employees of the Petco location on Kingston Pike smile at a check presentation with Young-Williams Animal Center staff including: (L-R) Social Media and Outreach Manager Chastedy Smith, Director of Development Kari Parker and CEO Janet Testerman.

Young-Williams Animal Center has received $200,000 from national nonprofit Petco Love in support of the shelter’s lifesaving work for pets in Knoxville. Shelter representatives and adoptable animals celebrated the grant with check presentations at the Kingston Pike and Farragut Petco locations on Wednesday.

“A lifesaving investment of this value will allow us to assist even more vulnerable animals in our community,” says Janet Testerman, CEO of Young-Williams Animal Center. “The funds will help us provide low-cost spay/neuter services, animal enrichment and behavioral training, continued learning for employees and more, improving outcomes for more pets.” 

A Petco employee hands a $200,000 Petco Love check to Young-Williams Animal Center CEO Janet Testerman. The grant is part of the more than $15 million in investments that Petco Love is committing to the most-effective lifesaving animal welfare organizations nationwide.

Young-Williams Animal Center’s vision is “A Home for Every Pet,” and grants like the one from Petco Love helped the nonprofit achieve a 93.53% save rate in 2022, when more than 11,000 animals entered the shelter. Young-Williams Animal Center also assists pet owners in need with programs including Pets for Life and the Pet Resource Center. 

“Our investment in Young-Williams Animal Center is part of more than $15M 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. We recently launched Petco Love Lost, a national lost and found database that uses pet image technology to simplify the search for lost pets.”

Petco Love is a national nonprofit leading change for pets by harnessing the power of love to make communities and pet families closer, stronger, and healthier. Since its founding in 1999, Petco Love has invested $350 million in adoption and other lifesaving efforts. And Petco Love helps find loving homes for pets in partnership with Petco and more than 4,000 organizations — like ours — across North America, with 6.7 million pets adopted and counting.

“Petco Love is an excellent partner that has helped us change the lives of pets and people significantly,” Testerman says. “On behalf of the entire Young-Williams Animal Center team, we appreciate Petco Love’s investment in our animal welfare efforts.”

The grant is part of the more than $15 million in investments that Petco Love is committing to animal welfare organizations across the country as part of its annual investment efforts to identify and invest in the most-effective lifesaving animal welfare organizations nationwide.