Is PetSmart Woke?

Company Overview

PetSmart is the largest specialty pet retailer in the United States, operating roughly 1,600 stores selling pet food, supplies, grooming, training and veterinary services. The company is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona and has been privately held by BC Partners since 2015. Its affiliated nonprofit, PetSmart Charities, is one of the largest funders of pet adoption in North America.

PetSmart currently carries a score of 45 on this site. After a full review, we believe that number is materially too low, and we explain why below. The prior summary for this brand contained a significant factual error regarding its Human Rights Campaign rating, and correcting it changes the picture substantially.

ESG & Sustainability

PetSmart publishes corporate social responsibility reporting aligning environmental and social commitments with business growth, including waste diversion and energy efficiency metrics. As a privately held company it is not subject to public-company ESG disclosure requirements, and its reporting is voluntary and comparatively light next to its publicly traded peers.

We treat the environmental side of PetSmart as the least consequential part of its profile. Waste diversion and energy savings in a retail footprint are cost management. This is not where the company's political weight sits.

DEI Programs

PetSmart built a formal diversity apparatus early and deliberately. The company created a Diversity Action Council in 2018 and, in 2019, formalized, staffed and funded a dedicated team to drive the work. Its first strategic decision was to brand the effort "Belonging," on the stated logic that every associate, regardless of what makes them different or unique, should know they have a place at PetSmart.

The structure that followed is more built-out than most retailers of comparable size:

• A network of Associate Resource Groups — six by the company's own count in its DEI materials, with some sources citing seven — accessible to associates company-wide through a dedicated internal social platform.
• An Executive Sponsor assigned to each ARG, which the company notes gives nearly every member of its Senior Leadership Team a formal role in Belonging efforts. That is executive compensation-adjacent accountability, not a volunteer club.
• An annual company-wide "Belonging Week."
• External recruiting partnerships with DisabilityIN, the Hispanic Corporate Council, the Black Chamber of Arizona and diverse job boards.

On CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion: PetSmart is documented in the CEO Action action library with a published commitment titled "Create a Culture Belonging at PetSmart." The prior summary's claim that PetSmart is not a signatory appears to be wrong. We note that the CEO Action program itself has since been restructured — its site now redirects to SHRM's Center for Inclusion & Diversity — so we cannot verify PetSmart's current standing in a program that may no longer exist in its original form. What is documented is participation.

LGBTQ+ Advocacy

This is the heart of PetSmart's profile and the reason its score should be higher.

The HRC correction. The prior summary stated that PetSmart is "privately held and not rated in the Corporate Equality Index." That is false. The Human Rights Campaign maintains a rating page for PetSmart LLC showing a 2026 Corporate Equality Index score of 100, with a full criteria breakdown: Workforce Protections 5/5, Inclusive Benefits 50/50, Inclusive Culture 25/25, Outreach and Engagement 20/20, and no Responsible Citizenship penalty deducted. HRC flags the score as unverified for 2026 because the company did not submit a survey that cycle — a distinction worth stating precisely — but the underlying policy profile is a perfect 100 across every scored category. Private ownership plainly did not keep PetSmart off the scorecard.

The money. PetSmart has donated $200,000 to GLSEN, an organization focused on LGBTQ+ issues in K-12 schools, as part of $600,000 in total contributions to the group. That is direct corporate funding of youth-focused advocacy, and it is the single most consequential fact on this page for parents.

The merchandise. The company runs a recurring consumer Pride campaign branded "You Are Loved," with Pride collections including a 2026 line — rainbow pet apparel and accessories sold directly to customers. Kristin Shane, PetSmart's senior vice president and chief merchandising officer, said the range was introduced to help pet parents and their pets celebrate the spirit of Pride and share the company's values of inclusion and unconditional love. The collections have drawn repeated boycott calls from conservative customers.

The internal side. PetSmart operates Pride at Work (PAW), an enterprise-wide LGBTQ+ associate resource group, which the Global ERG Network named one of the Top 25 Employee Resource Groups. The company also supports Phoenix Pride in its home market.

Political Activity

As a privately held company, PetSmart has no corporate PAC and we identified no meaningful federal candidate giving. Its political spending is not electoral — it is philanthropic and advocacy-directed, which is precisely what the GLSEN contributions represent. Readers should not read "no PAC" as "no political money." In PetSmart's case the money goes to advocacy organizations rather than to candidates.

Consumer Impact

PetSmart's stated 45 does not survive contact with the evidence. A company holding a 100 across every HRC Corporate Equality Index category, funding GLSEN to the tune of $600,000, running an annual consumer Pride merchandise line, and assigning senior executives formal accountability for Belonging outcomes is operating a fuller advocacy program than its sister chain Petco, which this site scores at 70. On the dimensions this site measures, PetSmart belongs in that neighborhood, not twenty-five points below it. We recommend this brand be rescored.

For conservative pet owners, the practical guidance is straightforward. Money spent at PetSmart underwrites a genuine advocacy program, including direct funding of an organization that works inside K-12 schools. If that is disqualifying for you, the alternatives are independent local pet supply stores, feed and farm retailers such as Tractor Supply, which withdrew from the HRC index and rolled back its DEI programming, and direct-from-manufacturer pet food ordering. Grooming and veterinary services are widely available from independent local providers.

Readers should be aware that summaries of this brand — including the one previously published here — have wrongly reported it as unrated by HRC. It is rated, and it is rated at the top.