Pet Valu Stamford Pairs with Local Animal Welfare Groups

Pet Valu Stamford celebrated its grand opening on Saturday with a happy clown, clown dog, balloon sculpting, prizes and, of course, adoptable kittens and dogs from local rescue groups.

Project Precious Rescue brought Lil Mama, Jeffrey and Fluffernutter to the event. The three dogs quickly became two when a pre-approved adoption resulted in Fluffernutter leaving early. The PPR volunteers celebrated the moment, significant in that Fluffernutter was their 100th adoption in less than a year. Mulligan-Zowine has found homes for a wide variety of cats and dogs, including dogs rescued from dogfighting.

"These are all adoptions that stick. These are forever homes," said PPR's Kayte Mulligan-Zowine, with a well deserved grin as she hugged Jeffrey, a black poodle mix who is in need of a home or foster situation.

Lil Momma, the other adoptable PPR dog at the event was found tied to a fence in the Bronx. Lil Momma is about 10 months old and weighs about 45 lbs. She is so sweet, smart and ready for a forever home. According to Mulligan-Zowine, Lil Momma has a lot of puppy energy and, is great with other dogs and kids, but has not been in direct contact with any cats.

Inside Pet Valu, a crowd gathered around a playful litter of kittens. Madeline Zomb, 15, of New Canaan tried to wear down her mother. "Please," she asked her mother Alison, but the answer was no due to family allergies. No matter, three of the four kittens had approved adoptions by 2:00pm and Heather Scutti, director of STARelief was all smiles. 

Visiting the Zombs of New Canaan was Elisa Rooks from Sherman Oaks, CA. "My 16-year old  son did his community service hours this year at Lucky Puppy in Studio City," said Rooks. "It's like a pet shop, but all the dogs are rescues. In L.A., they banned commercially bred dogs from pet stores."    

Store manager MJ Giordani said Pet Valu loves to pair up with rescue groups for adoption events like the one on Saturday. "We have these great new self dog wash stations where customers can bathe their pets without a mess, and we'd love to pair with rescue groups to do dog-wash fundraisers," said Giordani. "They can charge what they like for the fundraiser whether it's $10 or $30, and put every penny toward their rescue group." 

Cat Assistance volunteer Tina Aronson, who explained that her organization also rescues dogs, smiled down at the 90-lb. pit-mix "Brock," who she escorted to the event, and swapped information with Giordani.

Pet Valu is located at 1131 High Ridge Rd. in Stamford (203) 658-8825. Local rescue grops interested in setting up dog-wash fundraisers at Pet Valu can contact Manager MJ Giordani at MGiordani@petvalu.com 

More information on STARelief and their pet food pantry is available on their website. 

For information on Project Precious rescue, check out the Project Precious Rescue's Facebook page or website. To watch a short and happy video celebrating Project Precious Rescue's 100th adoption click here.