Helping P.E.T.S.

What P.E.T.S. Stands For

P.E.T.S. is not a cute backronym we invented for a hangtag — it's the four budget lines our partner shelters told us decide whether an animal makes it. So that's exactly where the money goes:

• Placement — adoption events, foster networks, transport between shelters, and the marketing that gets a longtime resident finally seen.
• Emergency care — the 2 a.m. surgeries, the hit-by-car arrivals, the cases where the difference between yes and no is simply funding.
• Treatment — vaccines, parasite treatment, dental work and rehabilitation that turn "unadoptable" into "adopted last weekend."
• Sterilization — spay and neuter campaigns, the least glamorous and most effective way to make sure fewer animals ever need a shelter.

How Every Purchase Helps

The mechanics are simple and audited annually. Ten percent of the retail price of every piece — every tee, legging, gown and men's shirt — is transferred quarterly to the Helping P.E.T.S. fund and distributed across our twelve partner shelters based on caseload. Limited editions go further: the Gala Rescue Slip gives 20%, and the Adoption Day Oxford funds a complete adoption kit per unit sold.

Your hangtag doubles as a donation certificate: scan-free, jargon-free, just a plain statement of what your purchase funded that quarter. We publish the totals every January in our annual Rescue Report, and shelter partners are listed by name on our contact page so you can visit, volunteer or adopt directly.

Beyond the Percentage

Money is the start, not the whole story. Fabric offcuts from the Signature Dresses atelier become kennel blankets sewn by volunteers. Our lookbook shoots cast real shelter dogs (paid in treats, naturally — several have been adopted by crew members mid-shoot). Every staff member gets two paid volunteering days per quarter, and our adoption-day pop-ups pair a rescue meet-and-greet with a trunk show, because people linger longer around clothes, and lingering is how adoptions happen.

Read some of the outcomes on the blog: Rescue Stories — three animals your wardrobe helped save.