Update on Maui Pet Adoption Story that Helped Earn $50K for Maui Humane Society

Each year, the Petco Love Stories grant campaign, in partnership with BOBS from Skechers, invites adopters to share how their pets have changed their lives to give the organizations they’ve adopted from the chance to earn lifesaving funds. Last year, Rory from Maui was awarded a $50,000 Love Stories grant for Maui Humane Society and also received a Petco shopping spree and a prize pack with BOBS from Skechers shoes. 

After the loss of his wife, Rory and his daughter Holly found comfort, companionship, and laughter in their adopted dog named Kaia. 

Rory shared an update on how adopting Kaia has been incredibly rewarding for his family. “Having Kaia home to accompany my 11-year-old daughter during distanced learning gave me so much peace of mind. Kaia has inspired our family to foster eight dogs in the past seven months, and even led me to begin a new relationship,” said Rory.  Rory added, “Being a Love Stories winner led me to my girlfriend who sponsored a kennel at the Maui Humane Society dedicated to my wife.”

Six months after receiving this grant, Steve MacKinnon, CEO at Maui Humane Society, shared how the funds have made a difference to their organization and explained, “Earning a $50,000 Love Stories grant has had a tremendous positive impact on our organization. The excitement surrounding the big reveal and award in December of 2020 boosted the morale of our staff and supporters at a time when we were struggling with reduced donations, shelter closures and an overwhelming number of animals due to the pandemic. Rory and Kaia’s story was embraced by our entire community with an outpouring of love and a collective celebration was felt for our shelter and animals.”

MacKinnon added, “The grant has helped us purchase supplies for our foster department so that we can send more animals into homes when the shelter is full, assisted with increasing our community cat Trap-Neuter-Release program, and enabled our veterinary staff to maintain sufficient PPE to continue their lifesaving work during COVID. We’re so grateful that Rory’s story was shared with the world and that he found a silver lining in his experience not only through Kaia, but in meeting his girlfriend Jamie-Sue who had fostered Kaia as a puppy.”    

“These touching stories are what continue to inspire the BOBS movement and our partnership with Petco Love, which allow us to support these truly deserving organizations,” said Michael Greenberg, president of Skechers. “We couldn’t be happier to see these grant investments making a positive difference in local communities during a difficult year, and we look forward to continuing this momentum to help more pets across the country find safety, comfort, love, and homes.”

“Love Stories like Rory’s and Kaia’s highlight how the love of an adopted pet can change so many lives for the better,” said Susanne Kogut, president of Petco Love. “We’re happy this grant empowered Maui Humane Society to save more pet lives, and we invite adopters nationwide to share their Love Story for the chance to help a hardworking organization in their community earn lifesaving funds.”

For those who are unable to adopt their own pet but want to support the cause, BOBS from Skechers and Petco Love are celebrating National Foster A Pet Month this June by rounding up purchases in Skechers retail stores nationwide to donate to Petco Love and help save shelter dogs and cats.