Are you on top of the new fad, Pokémon Go? Who isn’t?! Even if you don’t play, you know 50 people that get out there to catch ‘em all and walk around town hatching those eggs. We have already read about some of the crazy stories that have occurred since the game premiered, like finding dead bodies and people trespassing, which weren’t exactly positive. There is a new story going viral from Muncie, Indiana. This is truly something that can be life changing. Muncie Animal Shelter’s superintendent, Phil Peckinpaugh, came up with an idea to have gamers walk adoptable dogs at his shelter. Imagine walking adoptable dogs while hatching eggs for the game, genius right?
This is the photo Muncie Animal Shelter posted on July 12, 2016.
They are asking for volunteers to walk their dogs and using Pokémon Go to
encourage volunteers. The post has been shared on Facebook more than 28
thousand times!
Additional social media posts have been misleading, but not entirely wrong.
I first read about this amazing project per a screenshot on Facebook which states that Muncie Animal Shelter is allowing those embarrassed playing Pokémon Go to rent their shelter dogs for $5.00 an hour so it appears that you aren’t in fact playing Pokémon Go, but walking a dog instead. I was blown away.
The Facebook post written by Shawn Montgomery stated five results listed below:
1. They now have a waiting list of people who want to pay for the privilege of walking a dog.
2. They have made so much money in “rental fees” that they have waived adoption fees
3. When people renting the dogs are out walking. The post pictures of themselves playing the game on FB and Instagram. People are then coming in to the shelter asking to adopt specific dogs.
4. On at least two occasions, people have called the shelter and said “Hey I didn’t think I wanted a dog. But me and this dog get along really well. I’m not bringing him back”.
5. They shelter currently has no dogs available to rent and there is a waiting list. Because all of the dogs have been adopted!! They are currently bringing dogs in from a different shelter to be “rented.”
What this animal shelter is doing is so positive, but things need to be set straight.
There is no cost to walk a dog, you are a volunteer. You can go into the shelter and tell the employees you are there to walk a dog and they will have you sign a waiver and you can go pick out a dog. Simple as that. Adoption fees are not waived as the list states. At the time of this post, adoption fees were lessened to $50 per animal and July 22, 2016 for an effort to CLEAR THE SHELTERS there was no adoption fee, only a registration fee of $10.
At least six dogs have been adopted since the Pokémon Go dog walking started. Heartwarming posts can be found on their Facebook page, Muncie Animal Shelter, about falling in love with dogs and encouraging those in the area to come to the shelter and walk a dog. There are still many dogs, cats and other animals in need of adoption.
Above is a family who walked Baloo and ended up adding another member to their family. Michael Keihn, the father of this family captions this picture on July 15th, "Yesterday my family an I went to pokemon go walk shelter dogs an we walked this big man here his name is Baloo. Today we went back for Baloo because he fits our family. All our children love him an him to them Baloo is on his forever home thanks to Pokémon Go."
Another great story where shelter dog, Carter, is adopted all thanks to Pokémon Go!
The story has gained the attention of the media, Facebook even sent people to film and make a short video about what the shelter has started.
Going downtown, at any hour, I see so many people walking around, helping out local businesses and bettering the community around them. Without Pokémon Go, would these people have even wanted to go on a walk?
Hearing heartwarming stories in general, are amazing but hearing ones that are close to my heart are even better. There are so many animals in shelters that just need someone to give them love. Pleasecontact your local shelter and ask if you can volunteer to walk a furry friend, give baths, or even just pledge money to the shelter. I want to see this become the norm. Walk adoptable dogs and Catch ‘em All
!
