Millbrae - Where Pets are Stars

Spoiler alert - this column is mostly about Millbrae.  Some of you may have gleaned that from the snappy title.

I can’t call it home, but it’s close.  I lived in the then-sleepy Peninsula hamlet for two years before I started school; then, we moved to the Millbrae/San Bruno border, on the San Bruno side, but I was still able to attend Millbrae public schools (Green Hills….go Rams!) and play in the Millbrae Lions Little League. 

I played shortstop for the “red” team, sponsored by Millbrae Pancake House.  The Coast Minor League also featured two teams sponsored by local bars, George’s Place and My Brother’s Place.  The Bad News Bears writers must have known about Millbrae little league when they had their feature team sponsored by Chico’s Bail Bonds.  Classic.

We stayed with Millbrae when I reached middle school, but it was St. Dunstans for me, not Taylor. The local public school kids called it St. Dungeons, but those were two great years. I still keep in touch with several of my fellow Knights. 

(Editor's note: Scott is being modest. He was an accomplished baseball player at Serra High in San Mateo and played on a national championship team at Stanford University).

This week, my work brought me back to Millbrae. Pet Food Express, a successful and growing chain of pet food and supply stores that somehow stays in business despite giving away money left and right to animal shelters, called to say they are opening a new branch on Broadway in Millbrae (near the former home of Consumer Distributing, for you long-time Millbrae residents) and wanted to partner with us for the grand opening.

For us, the role was easy - tell our folks about their “My Mutt” program. If you’ve ever visited a Pet Food Express, you’ve seen the huge, high-quality posters of owned pets around their store.  I’ve attached a few here.

Pet owners pay to make their pets stars.  They make a $250 or $500 donation to their local shelter; their pet has a professional photo session arranged by Pet Food Express and the poster is up for six months or a year. 

For the Millbrae opening in September, Pet Food Express sweetened the deal.  If someone donates $500 to the Peninsula Humane Society to have their pet up in lights inside the new store, Pet Food Express will match the donation.  So, our $500 donation for local shelter animals becomes a $1,000 gift.

There’s one catch – just 10 available spots.  And, the deal closes Sept. 1.

Once you contact the Peninsula Humane Society and give your $500 gift, we’ll send a confirmation letter, which you will use to work with Pet Food Express for the photo shoot. 

They will likely pick some recognizable landmarks around Millbrae for backdrops, much like they did when they opened their Burlingame store.  So, it could be your mutt in front of the Millbrae Library, Mills High’s football field, the old Shaws sign, Millbrae Pancake House, Taylor Elementary or even George’s Place. 

That last one can’t be just any dog - would have to be a big slobbery lab mix, Newfoundland or St. Bernard.

To learn more, please visit http://www.petfoodexpress.com/giving-back/make-your-pet-a-star/.

Or, you can contact me directly at Delucchi@PHS-SPCA.org.