The San Diego Chargers and Second Chance Dog Rescue are joining forces to host the first "Chargers Dog Draft,” presented by Petco, on Saturday, April 30 at 9 a.m. at Qualcomm Stadium.

The Chargers Dog Draft will take place at Qualcomm Stadium section O-1, near the main entrance to the 2016 DraftFest. Chargers fans and dog lovers will have a unique opportunity to provide a forever home for "man's best friend" at this special draft weekend event at the stadium. The event is free and open to the public.

"I am a proud pet parent along with many of our players, coaches and staff, and there are many Chargers fans who are passionate about animals and dogs in particular, so we thought this was a great opportunity allow Chargers fans to draft a new pet into their family at the same time we'll be drafting new players into ours," said John Spanos, President-Football Operations for the Chargers.

Petco is the presenting sponsor of the Dog Draft, while Second Chance Dog Rescue of San Diego will administer the event. On the day of the event, a limited number of dogs from Second Chance Dog Rescue will be available for adoption on-site. Rescue staff will also be available to answer any questions from potential adopters.

"We salute the San Diego Chargers organization for leveraging the popularity of the NFL Draft to create awareness for adoptable pets," said David Hallisey, Vice President, Communications for Petco. "Just like the rookies that will be joining the team soon, we look forward to doing all we can to help support pet parents who step up and make their pick this weekend."

"The dog draft is an incredibly unique idea that supports our core values and purpose in the San Diego Community. We've been holding adoption events in San Diego since our inception in 2008 and each one helps to educate the public as well as find homes for the dogs in need. Thanks to the support from the Chargers and Petco, this event will help create more awareness that will no doubt make a difference in our community." said Megan Knight, President for Second Chance Dog Rescue.

The Chargers Dog Draft has been featured on Instagram in the run-up to the event, profiling dogs available for adoption and building awareness for the first-ever Dog Draft. For more information on dog adoption, fostering, overpopulation and spaying/neutering, fans may visit http://www.chargers.com/dogdraft.