You’ve heard of the Super Bowl, but have you heard about the Puppy Bowl and its impact on shelter animals? More than 112 million people watched the Super Bowl a couple of weeks ago. Happening at the same time, on Animal Planet, the Puppy Bowl drew in 12 million viewers.
What is the Puppy Bowl?
It’s an annual event hosted by Animal Planet in which puppies in shelters from across the country play a “football” game. The game, which started in 2005, is just the puppies playing with one another. They may even score a “touchdown” if they run a chew toy to the end of the field. Kittens even perform a halftime show for the crowd. In years past, the Puppy Bowl has also featured other adoptable animals including hedgehogs and hamsters.
The Humane Society has workers on hand to supervise the play and the puppies are filmed for only 20 minutes at a time to prevent them from getting too tired. Additionally, the puppies are checked pre-game by a veterinarian and are placed with puppies of similar sizes for safety. This year pegged team Fluff against team Ruff and team Fluff took home the Lombarky trophy.
This annual event has become a must-watch for many people. At the end of each game, all the puppies are adopted, resulting in a win-win for both puppy players and viewers alike.
Raising Awareness About Shelter Animals
The Puppy Bowl is also an effective awareness event for shelters and rescues as adoption of shelter animals increases each year after the big game. The event has a large platform in which to remind Americans about the amazing shelter pets that are available for adoption. Arguably, there isn’t a better annual nationwide awareness event.
How Can Shelters Take Advantage?
During this time of increased visibility for shelter pets, it’s a good time to leverage the awareness. This increased awareness will benefit your shelter or rescue. Your shelter may be able to have a Puppy Bowl Watch Party for donors as a thank you event. Shelters could also start a social media campaign to promote their own Puppy Bowl lineup or “draft picks”. A social media campaign which features adoptable animals on football cards would also be engaging. There are many ways shelters can benefit from the extra awareness that the Puppy Bowl brings to the nation—finding the opportunity can be challenging, but fun!
PetBridge Showcases Shelter MVPs
Shelters can showcase their adoptable animals through PetBridge which connects the data from a shelter management system to the frontend of the shelter website. This connection means that adoptable animals are displayed in real-time, ensuring higher adoption rates. If your shelter or rescue needs a shelter software system, contact us!
