The ASTRO Foundation is set to receive a $15,000 grant investment from national nonprofit Petco Love in support of its lifesaving work for animals in Oakdale, Riverbank, Escalon and closely surrounding areas.

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 $375 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 ASTRO — across North America, with 6.75 million pets adopted and counting.

“Our investment in the ASTRO Foundation is part of more than $15 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. We launched Petco Love Lost, a national lost and found database that uses patented image-recognition technology to simplify the search for lost pets.”

“This incredible lifesaving investment from Petco Love ensures that we can continue to rescue and rehome as many pets from our local communities as possible,” said Megan Scoullar, Director of Adoption Services for the ASTRO Foundation. “This investment will directly offset the veterinary expenses we invest in each of our rescue pets when administering vaccinations and preventatives, altering, and microchipping in preparation of our search for their loving homes.”

The ASTRO Foundation is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to rescuing dogs and cats from Oakdale, Riverbank, Escalon and closely surrounding areas. By working with a network of volunteers, foster caregivers, and local veterinarians, the ASTRO Foundation rescues hundreds of pets each year. In 2021, the ASTRO Foundation opened its first ever Adoption Center which provides a central location for its lifesaving efforts. Since 2012, the ASTRO Foundation has rescued over 8,000 pets in need. So far in 2024, ASTRO has placed more than 200 pets in loving homes.

For more information about the ASTRO Foundation, visit astrofoundation.org. Learn more about Petco Love at: petcolove.org.

The ASTRO Foundation was founded in 2012. The ASTRO Adoption Center is at 157 N. Fifth Ave., Oakdale. It is open Wednesday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and is the first of its kind for the community. ASTRO is proudly partnered with Petco Love and has cats available for adoption at the Petco facility in Riverbank. The ASTRO Thrift & Gift Shop is at 250 E. E St., Oakdale, and is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; all proceeds from the Shop benefit the rescue animals.