Genius! Animal Shelter Enlists Pokémon Go Players To Walk Its Adoptable Dogs

An animal shelter is appealing to people who play Pokemon Go to  take part in the virtual scavenger hunt while walking adoptable dogs. So  far, it’s been a huge success! 

If you’ve taken a stroll through your city’s streets lately, chances  are you’ve come across hoards of people sitting in groups, staring at  their phones. In case you didn’t know what the cause of this is, it’s an app called  Pokemon Go that lets people search and collect virtual characters from  the Pokemon show in their neighborhood, using their phone screen to spot the creatures. Not only has the game brought many diverse types of people together,  it’s inspiring a large percent of the public who utilizes the app to get more active. The app hasn’t even been out for a week, but it’s become a sensation. So much so, the Muncie Animal Shelter decided to recruit players of Pokemon Go to walk shelter dogs as they take part in the virtual scavenger hunt. 

 This Dogs Life reports  that the founder of shelter in Indiana, Phil Peckinpaugh, was inspired  to launch the collaboration between shelter dogs and Pokemon Go players  when he played the game with his 6-year-old daughter. The day after, he  thought: 

“It would be amazing if we could pair all of these people with shelter dogs!”

Shortly after the idea was announced on the shelter’s Facebook page,  the post garnered more than 18k shares and 5.3k likes. And, within one  day, there were more than 50 people coming into the shelter to walk  dogs, says Peckinpaugh. So far, the experience has been great for  everyone involved. 

 If anyone desires to use their Pokemon Go app skills for a noble  cause, they can visit the shelter between 10 am and 5:30 pm and  volunteer to walk the dogs. 

“Just come to the front desk and say you are here for the Pokémon dogs!” says Peckinpaugh.

 Imagine if all animal shelters launched similar initiatives! Please comment your thoughts below and share this news!