PETCO Unleashed
Chihuahua Races Are Back!
Celebrating
America’s Fastest – and Not So Fast – Tiniest Canines
SAN
DIEGO (April 3, 2008) –
On your bark, get set, go! The PETCO Unleashed Chihuahua races are back
in search for America’s fastest of the tiniest breed of dog. Thousands
of pint-sized competitors with larger-than-life personalities will show
their might during 15 regional championships held nationwide on three
consecutive weekends starting April 19.
Accompanied by
their human family members, featherweight competitors will sprint – or
stroll – down a 1/18th furlong (35-foot-long) race track. Regional
winners will be awarded a trip to
San Diego to battle it out against 14 other regional champions in
front of cheering crowds between innings of a major league baseball game
at PETCO Park, home to the
San Diego Padres, on Aug. 31.
Only one will
triumph to win the coveted title of America’s Fastest Chihuahua, a
trophy, a $300 PETCO gift card and a year’s supply of Royal Canin
Chihuahua food – approximately 12 times the average Chihuahua’s weight.
Regional races
will be held on April 19 in Orlando, Houston, Phoenix,
Sacramento and
Anaheim, Calif.; on April 26 in
Los Angeles,
Chicago,
Dallas,
Washington, D.C., and
Seattle; and on May 3 in
San Francisco,
Boston, Denver,
San Diego and
New York.
Participants can
now secure a spot at the 4th annual PETCO Unleashed races by
pre-registering at
www.petco.com/petcounleashed. Up
to 300 spots are available at each location through online registration;
a limited number of spots will be also available on the race day.
Pet parents attending
the event will receive special PETCO Unleashed T-shirts and matching
Chihuahua outfits – in sizes X and XS – which will be given at each
location to the first 200 PETCO P.A.L.S. members who spend $25 or more
at the PETCO store hosting the race.
Chihuahuas are
the 12th most popular purebred dog breed in the country, according to
the American Kennel Club. They are also considered the smallest and
lightest dogs in the world.
PETCO and the
races’ presenting sponsor Royal Canin hold the event to celebrate the
joy all companion animals bring to their pet parents and to encourage
all animal lovers to consider adoption as the first option when adding a
pet to their family.
As in the past
years, PETCO and the PETCO Foundation will work with Chihuahua adoption
groups during the event.
“Chihuahuas may
be the world’s smallest dogs, but they make a huge difference in the
lives of their human families,” said Heather Olson, strategic
partnerships and promotions manager at PETCO. “During the PETCO
Unleashed races we celebrate the human-animal bond and remind people
that there are millions of adoptable pets – including Chihuahuas –
waiting for loving homes.”
