One of the great things about shopping at Petco is seeing the company’s admirable commitment to helping homeless pets by offering space in its retail stores to rescue groups showcasing their adoptable animals. Petco’s slogan is “Think Adoption First,” and to date,the companyhas helped three-million-plus pets find forever homes.

But millions of shelter animals still need homes. So,raising awareness of the work that still needs to be done — andgiving itself a well-deserved pat on the back —the company iscelebrating National Adoption Reunion the weekend of October 8-9, 2011, at all Petco and Unleashed by Petco stores.

Plus, Petco is looking to set the Guinness World Record for “Largest Gathering of Adopted Shelter Pets” inNew York City’s Central Park on Tuesday, October 4. All alumni of animal shelters and rescue groupsare welcome to attend. To draw adopted dogs and their people to this happening, Petco is partnering with Sony to produce a free Gavin DeGraw concert. Since there’s nothing sweeter than a shelter dog (or cat), it’s only fitting that DeGraw (pictured at left) will perform a live acoustic set of songs, including materialfrom his brand-new album, Sweeter, just released by RCA.

A Sony “Photo and Video Experience” area will showcase several new digital imaging products that make great holiday gifts for dog lovers,including Cyber-shot and Bloggie digital cameras. Attendees can also get Sony Digital Imaging Experts’ helpful tips on capturing and sharing memorable pet portraits. Here are a couple: Have a helper hold a treat or toy, and shoot over that persons shoulder; take a burst of shots with your Cyber-shot, using 10 frames per second to ensure you get the best one.

At the event, Petco will present the Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals with a donation of a new mobile adoption van worth an estimated $128,000 to assist with local adoption efforts. For one-stop-adopting convenience, several Mayor’s Alliance member groups will be on hand and paw in Central Park to showcase eligible adoptable pets. (We’ve seen the great work done by the Alliance before hereand here.)

So, whether you’re a Dogster oryou’re dogless, it’s worth taking a trip to Central Park on Tuesday afternoon —you just might come home with a new best friend! The event will take place from 4 to 6:30 p.m.at Central Park’s Naumburg Bandshell. Hope to see you there!

Meanwhile, if you and your dog want to be part of the historicrecord-setting, here are the Guinness World Record Participation Guidelines: A minimum of 250 animals attending the reunion must have been adopted from an animal shelter or adoption organization and not purchased. To count toward the record total, all owners must supply paperwork proving this to the event organizers. Check-in to the record-setting attempt begins at 4 p.m. and counting begins at 5.

To be counted, all animals must be in the same place at the same time in a cordoned-off area for a minimum of 10 minutes. Each animal must be accompanied by at least one pet parent. A Guinness World Records representative will be in attendance to verify the record and share the result with attendees by the end of the event.